OREANDA-NEWS. US authorities imposed sanctions against Rosneft Trading and its president Didier Kasimiro.

As a representative of the American administration explained, restrictive measures are connected with alleged mediation in the sale of oil from Venezuela on behalf of the regime of the President Nicolas Maduro. Although the state-owned Venezuelan company PDVSA is under US sanctions, Rosneft Trading tried to circumvent them, the official said. It is alleged that in the autumn of 2019, Rosneft Trading was supposed to take part in the transportation of 55 million barrels of oil by PdVSA, and in January 2020, the company facilitated the supply of 2 million barrels of crude from Venezuela to the countries of West Africa.

Later, another senior US official said that the decision on sanctions was personally approved by President Donald Trump.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury Department explained that the restrictions apply exclusively to Rosneft Trading and do not apply to Russian company Rosneft.