MegaFon announced the absence of a direct impact of US sanctions on business

The new US sanctions imposed against MegaFon will not have a "direct material impact" on its business, as they do not apply to the provision of communication services. This is stated in the company's statement received by RBC.

“Issued after the announcement of the inclusion of our company in the sanctions list, the OFAC license says that the restrictions imposed by the United States do not apply to us for any services in the field of communications and payments for them. This, in fact, suggests that the decision of the American regulator does not have a direct significant impact on our business, our subscribers and the services provided to them, including roaming services,” the statement says.

The company noted that they consider its inclusion in the US sanctions list "unreasonable and illogical." “We intend to dispute it,” the company said.

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed MegaFon on the sanctions list on April 12 under the pretext that it is owned by the USM Group, which is 49% owned by businessman Alisher Usmanov. It has been under US sanctions since 2022.

The US Department of the Treasury prohibited MegaFon from transactions related to correspondent accounts or settlement accounts, with payment and processing of transactions involving certain foreign financial institutions, as well as any write-off of funds from an account in the books of a US financial institution and any transactions.

However, the ban did not apply to the provision of telecommunications services, including the EXPORT, re-export, sale or supply from the United States or by American persons of software, hardware or technology for the provision of communication services related to instant messaging, video conferencing, chats and e-mail, social networks, image sharing, movies and documents, web browsing, blogging, web hosting services and domain name registration.