Special working group, which was created on the instruction of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, is working to resolve the problem related to US sanctions against the Akhangarancement cement plant and its founder Akkermann Cement CA. This was announced at a press conference on May 4 by Mamarizo Nurmuratov, chairman of the Central Bank.
“As far as the sanctions are concerned, this really worries us. Over 10,000 people work there (at Akhangarancement - ed.). The sanctions do not imply an immediate suspension of work [of the enterprise]. We are working with the US Treasury Department, with the OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury - ed.) on this issue. We were given a certain deadline. These restrictions are directly related to their dollar transactions,” he said.
According to him, the sanctions do not yet concern operations in the national currency and the provision of services by local banks.
“The concerns [about banks] are appropriate. The servicing bank may be subject to secondary sanctions. Based on the instructions of the President, a working group has been created that is working on resolving the issue together with OFAC,” he said.
The governor of the Central Bank noted that "Akhangarancement" was one of the largest taxpayers in the country and provides employment for the local population, so "the uninterrupted operation of this enterprise was important for us."
As reported earlier, the United States imposed sanctions against the Uzbek cement plant Akhangarancement and Akkermann Cement CA, an company established by USM holding of Alisher Usmanov, who is a Russian citizen. In the EU sanctions, he was called the "favorite oligarch" of the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a license to wind down transactions involving a number of companies on the new sanctions list, including Akkermann Cement CA, through July 11.
In May 2021, a company from Cyprus, Lamanka Enterprises, acquired an 84.197% stake in Akhangarancement plant. The value of the transaction was then estimated at 557.6 billion soums. In January 2022, Lamanka Enterprises and Giacinttar from the British Virgin Islands announced the sale of their shares in Akhangarancement for 1.88 trillion soums. Later it became known that Akkermann Cement CA, established by a company from Alisher Usmanov's USM holding, became the buyer of the shares.
The United States also imposed sanctions against Digital Invest, which owns a stake in Ucell and operates a labeling system in Uzbekistan, as well as Alfa Beta Creative and GFK Logistic Asia. Citizens and natives of Uzbekistan also fell under the restrictions.
