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The United States imposed fresh sanctions against Russia on February 23, targeting more than 500 individuals and entities to mark the second anniversary of Russia’s war in Ukraine and retaliate for the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The sanctions were introduced jointly by the U.S. Treasury Department, State Department and Commerce Department, Hetq reported.

The State Department sanctioned three Russian prison officials in connection with Navalny’s death.

In turn, the U.S. Treasury Department targeted Russian financial institutions, as well as companies in Europe, Eastern and Central Asia and the Middle East that help Russia circumvent the sanctions. Hundreds of companies linked to the Russian military industrial base came under sanctions.

The Russian mining company GeoProMining, which owns Armenian assets, were also hit by the U.S. sanctions.

The Armenian assets owned by the GeoProMining Group of Companies include the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC), GeoProMining Gold LLC, which operates the Sotk gold mine and the Ararat gold recovery plant, as well as the Agarak Copper Molybdenum Combine.

In response to a question how the U.S. sanctions could affect the Armenian assets of GeoProMining, Ruzanna Grigoryan, a GeoProMining Gold representative, told Hetq to submit a written inquiry to GeoProMining Chairman Roman Khudoliy.

Hetq promised to publish the response to its inquiry upon receiving it.

Gleb Trotsenko, the son of Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko, was a shareholder of both the GeoProMining Gold LLC and the Zangezur Copper Molybdenum Combine until October 2023.

The mining giant announced earlier that Trotsenko, who formerly held a beneficial ownership position in the company, no longer retained such status due to the alienation of all his indirect shares in ZCMC to Svetlana Ershova on October 27.

The move came after the U.S. Department of State imposed sanctions on Gleb Trotsenko in November. The change is obviously aimed at avoiding sanctions and saving the business.

“Remarkably, sanctions-hit Gleb Trotsenko is being replaced by Svetlana Ershova, who could face sanctions either. A little web search reveals that Svetlana Ershova has always been a member of Trotsenko's corporations, holding leadership positions,” Panorama.am reported earlier.