Canada sanctions Moscow Exchange, St. Petersburg Exchange, Grinex, and two Russian banks

Canada has expanded its anti-Russian sanctions list with seven individuals, 34 entities, and 120 vessels from the so-called “shadow fleet.” For payments and trading infrastructure, the important part is that six Russian exchanges are now named, along with crypto exchange Grinex and two Russian banks.

1. According to documents on the Canadian foreign ministry’s website, the new measures cover six Russian exchanges: Moscow Exchange, St. Petersburg Exchange, St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange, St. Petersburg Currency Exchange, National Commodity Exchange, and East Exchange.
2. The sanctions also target Grinex, a crypto exchange, together with Old Vector and TengriCoin, which are described as related to it. For anyone trying to map exposure in crypto-adjacent payment flows, that is the part worth noting.
3. Two Russian banks were added to the list: Absolut Bank and Zemsky Bank. Several insurers were also named, including Soglasie and AMT Insurance.
4. Canada’s list further includes Russian companies and their executives, among them Rosatom Energy Projects and its CEO Andrey Rozhdestvin, Ural Diesel Engine Plant, and Olga Sokolova, CEO of NPO Molniya, which is part of the Kalashnikov concern. Around a dozen companies and organizations involved in drone development were also added.
5. This is not Canada’s first sanctions update this year. On 19 February, it added 53 organizations, 21 individuals, and 100 vessels from the “shadow fleet,” including VTB Shanghai, VTB’s head of brokerage business Andrey Yatskov, T-Bank, Alfa-Bank co-owner billionaire Andrey Kosogov, AFK Sistema, BitRiver Group, Rosatom, Rosatom Additive Technologies, Tatneft, Rosneft, Astra, Positive Technologies, Red Soft, IBS, and Lanit.