The U.S. Treasury Department has announced sanctions against 12 Russian citizens from the management of Kaspersky Lab. The new sanctions target the management of Kaspersky Lab, including its CEO Andrei Tikhonov and the managing director in Russia and the CIS, Anna Kolashova. The lists also include the director of commercial affairs Igor Chikunov, the business development director Andrei Efimov, the human resources manager Marina Alexeeva, the deputy general manager for strategy and economics Daniel Burshev, the director of research and economics Anton Ivanov, and the executive vice president of consumer business Mikhail Gerber.
Previously, the U.S. Department of Commerce banned the use of Kaspersky Lab software in the United States due to alleged threats to data security and imposed export restrictions on the company. According to the U.S. administration, the company is prohibited, effective July 20, from "entering into any new arrangements" with individuals in the United States, although these measures do not apply to operations of its departments that are of a purely informational or educational nature.
Starting September 29, the company and any of its successors or assignees will be prohibited from engaging in specific information and communication technology services transactions in the United States. In this context, Russian President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that these restrictions were imposed for competitive reasons, indicating that this is Washington's "preferred method" of conducting unfair competition.
