The Central Bank’s governor Mamarizo Nurmuratov commented on the adding of two more Uzbek companies to the US sanctions list at a press conference on October 31.

Earlier the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on two companies from Uzbekistan for their activities in the technology and industrial sectors of Russia. 

According to the US authorities, Uzstanex supplied machine tools to a sanctioned Russian company, and The Elite Investment Group supplied transformers for Russian GTS Group. 

According to the governor Nurmuratov, the regulator is concerned about the sanctions risks, but two government commissions and banks are taking measures to prevent transactions with sanctioned companies. 

"We are also concerned about this. The president ordered to set up two government commissions. One commission monitors and oversees the sanctions risk in export-import transactions, the second ensures that there are no [secondary] sanctions in money transfers and payments. It is worth noting that we have relatively strong control. In many cases, including these two companies, operations were suspended back in the summer... This way, our banks, following the requirements of OFAC and the European Union, put forward their internal requirements to exporters and importers. Their implementation to a certain extent reduces our risks of falling under sanctions," he underscored. 

Mamarizo Nurmuratov added that steps are being taken together with OFAC to return $4.6 million to Uzbek business entities. the respective payments amount were frozen and not accepted by foreign banks. 

Earlier, the US government added to the sanctions list the representative office of Polarstar Logistics in Uzbekistan, as well as Mvizion, Akhangarancement, Digital Invest, which owns a stake in Ucell and is the operator of the labeling system in Uzbekistan, as well as individuals.