Report: Venezuela Avoiding US Sanctions With Help From Russia

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is evading U.S.-imposed sanctions by funneling cash from Venezuelan oil sales through a Russian state energy company, according to an April 18 report from Reuters. The cash flowing through Rosneft is the most recent sign of “the growing dependence of Venezuela’s cash-strapped government on Russia” as a result of U.S. sanctions, according to the report.

Maduro’s administration has spoken with Moscow since January about ways to dodge U.S. sanctions imposed on Petroleos de Venezuela, the state-run oil company, Reuters reported. PdVSA began “passing invoices from its oil sales to Rosneft” in a scheme with Russia, the report said. This agreement between the two countries is part of a larger series of schemes by Maduro’s government to access cash while under U.S. sanctions, the report said. “The schemes have frustrated Washington officials, who have in recent days questioned why sanctions have not had a more dramatic impact on Venezuela’s finances,” Reuters reported.

According to the report, some of the money in the scheme is also flowing through Russian- and Venezuelan-owned bank Evrofinance Mosnarbank, which was placed on the U.S. Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals List in March (see 1903110014)