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The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added the Uzbekistan representative office of freight company Polarstar Logistics to its sanctions list, as part of a sweeping package targeting more than 500 individuals and entities announced on 24 February — the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The measures were also linked to the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
The designations reached across Europe, East Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. OFAC did not specify the precise nature of Polarstar Logistics’ connection to Russia. According to the company’s own website, it handles freight transportation across a range of commodities including vehicles and perishable goods, and also maintains an office in Dubai.
Three other Central Asian companies were caught in the same round of sanctions. Da Group 22 and Elem Group, both registered in Kazakhstan, were blacklisted alongside Kyrgyzstan-based Ukon. The Treasury Department stated that Ukon transported aircraft components and parts of U.S. manufacture to Russia. Da Group 22 and Elem Group, according to Kazakh media reports cited in the source material, are engaged in the wholesale trade of electronic and telecommunications equipment and parts. OFAC did not elaborate further on the specific transactions that triggered the Kazakh designations.
The action continues a pattern of U.S. pressure on Central Asian intermediaries. Companies from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have previously appeared on OFAC lists for supplying goods subject to export controls and sanctions to Russia. Washington has repeatedly signalled that third-country firms facilitating the circumvention of restrictions on Russia-bound goods risk being cut off from the U.S. financial system.
The broader February package was among the largest single-round designations since the invasion began, reflecting sustained U.S. efforts to close supply routes that have allowed sanctioned goods — particularly dual-use technology and components with military applications — to reach Russia through neighbouring states.