WASHINGTON DC, United States, Thursday August 13, 2015 – The United States has imposed sanctions on an offshore energy firm it says is registered in the Caribbean nation of St. Kitts and Nevis, for helping fuel the ongoing conflict in Syria by providing products to the Bashar Assad regime.
The US Treasury Department named Blue Energy Trade Limited Company (Blue Energy) in a list of 11 entities and individuals allegedly assisting Syria. It said many of the firms were front companies that the Syrian government and its supporters have used in an attempt to evade US and European Union sanctions.
As a result of the designation, Blue Energy – listed on the US Treasury website with a P.O. Box 556, Charlestown, St. Kitts and Nevis address – will have its US assets frozen and Americans will be prohibited from engaging in transactions with the company.
Blue Energy is one of several offshore firms owned by Milenyum Energy S.A., a company the US Treasury said regularly arranged for the shipment of products such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the Syrian government-controlled port of Banias.
According to a statement issued by the Treasury last week, Blue Energy was designated a part of the Syria regime’s energy networks “for being owned and controlled by, and having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, and having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial support for, or goods and services in support of, Milenyum” and “having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services in support of, the government of Syria.”
It said Milenyum uses Blue Energy to receive payments for energy-related shipments through the port of Banias.
As recent as April this year, the US Treasury said, Blue Energy shipped LPG valued at over $1.2 million to the port. It noted that the previous month, Milenyum received payment through Blue Energy for a shipment of several thousand metric tons of LPG, “likely destined for Banias”.
The full list of companies sanctioned by the US Treasury comprises: The Eagles, based in Syria; Morgan Additives Manufacturing Co., based in Dubai; Milenyum Energy, which is registered in Panama and operates in Turkey; Blue Energy; Elba Trade, based in Beirut, Lebanon; and Green Shipping Ltd. and Aqua Shipping Ltd., which also operate from Turkey. The four individuals sanctioned are employed by Milenyum.
The US Treasury also named seven vessels as blocked property.