The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has at last added a whole wedge of Viktor Bout’s companies to its asset blacklist. Not only that, but the key management including his brother Sergei, Richard Chichakli, Sergei Denissenko and Valery Naydo are on there too. It’s not as comprehensive as I might have liked, but the core group is there: Air Cess, Air Bas, Centrafricain, San Air, Santa Cruz, Transavia, Irbis and Moldtransavia are in the list, as are the key holding companies CET Aviation and Southbound Ltd. There are also a few others I wasn’t aware of (Air Zory, Business Air) and a couple I was suspicious but uncertain of (Gambia New Millenium).
As a bonus, a nine-pack of companies using Richard’s address were zapped, as were a bunch of shellcos I’d never heard of in Gibraltar, Bulgaria and Delaware. Though imperfect, it’s action, and would be worth a pint if I hadn’t missed out through stumping the streets for Charles Kennedy. In the OFAC press release, there’s a nice police-flick organisation chart I’ll post here when I find a moment other than now.
Now, can I get away with putting a little Antonov 12 silhouette on the side of my computer for each company?