MegaFon claims ‘no impact’ from new US sanctions, due to OFAC licensing

Russian cellco MegaFon claims that new US sanctions targeting its parent group, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov’s USM, will have ‘no material impact’ on its business, Reuters reports. The mobile operator explained that on the same day (12 April 2023) as Washington levied its latest sanctions on 29 companies and 25 individuals ‘linked to the Russian government’ due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a licence which authorises MegaFon to provide telecoms services, as well as to trade with US entities in software, hardware and technology for providing internet services. ‘This essentially means that there is no direct, material impact on our business, our subscribers and the services, including roaming, we provide to them, from the US regulator’s decision,’ MegaFon said in a statement. Nonetheless, the company said it viewed the sanctions as ‘an unfair and illegal step that has no basis,’ adding it intended to challenge them.