THE US government has imposed sanctions on four companies and an individual connected to the Russian military Wagner Group for undertaking illicit gold mining operations in the Central African Republic and Mali where it has been operating.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the illegal dealings were ‘funding the Wagner Group to sustain and expand its armed forces, including in Ukraine and Africa’.
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said: ‘Treasury’s sanctions disrupt key actors in the Wagner Group’s financial network and international structure.
‘The Wagner Group funds its brutal operations in part by exploiting natural resources in countries like the Central African Republic and Mali.
‘The United States will continue to target the Wagner Group’s revenue streams to degrade its expansion and violence in Africa, Ukraine, and anywhere else.’
The four companies are Midas, Diamville, OOO DM, and Industrial Resources and individual is Andrey Nikolayevich Ivanov, a Russian national who is an executive in the Wagner Group.
The Treasury said that during the early part of 2023, Ivanov worked closely with Wagner Group founder and owner Yevgeniy Prigozhin’s entity, Africa Politology, and senior Malian government officials on weapons deals, mining concerns and other Wagner Group activities in Mali.
Africa Politology is accused of developing strategies and mechanisms to induce countries that promote human rights and good governance to withdraw their presence in Africa and is involved in a series of Russian influence tasks in the CAR and Mali, to include discrediting the UN and carrying out lawsuits against press outlets that report on the consequences of Wagner’s activities.
Africa Politology was itself sanctioned by the US in January 2023 for acting for and on behalf of Prigozhin.
At the same time, various US government agencies have issued a new warning focused on the gold sector across sub-Saharan Africa, which produces about 25 per cent of the world’s gold each year.
US businesses are being encouraged ‘to undertake responsible investment in all aspects of the sector: mining, trading, refining, manufacturing, and retail of end products,’ according to a US State Department Spokesperson.
‘There are numerous risks that are directly and indirectly connected to the gold sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
‘Without adequate due diligence and appropriate mitigating measures, an industry participant may inadvertently contribute to one or more of these risks, including conflict and terror financing, money laundering, corruption, sanctions evasion, human rights and labour rights abuses, and environmental degradation,’ the Spokesperson said.
‘The United States shares the same interests and objectives as gold producers across sub-Saharan Africa in ensuring the development of a responsible and sustainable gold sector that eliminates the role of predatory and malign actors.’
