Japan introduces sanctions against Kazakhstani company for its ties with Russia

Japan has imposed sanctions against Kazakhstani Elem Group, accusing it of breaching anti-Russian sanctions. Elem Group has been on the U.S. and the EU sanction lists since February 2024.

Along with Elem Group, Japan has also put on its sanction list ten companies from China, the UAE, India and Uzbekistan.

According to Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan is freezing assets of those companies and banning any exports to them, the Russian Izvestiya newspaper reported.

What do we know about the sanctioned Kazakhstani company?

In February 2024, Elem Group was sanctioned by the European Union and the U.S. At the time, the U.S. Department of the Treasure accused Elem Group of exporting high-priority goods to STRELOI EKOMMERTS, a U.S.-registered company operating in Russia.

Elem Group was registered in March 2022 in Almaty and then re-registered in February 2024. According to eGov.kz, the company’s founder is Arthur Korolenok, while its core activity is wholesale trade with electronic and telecommunication equipment and their components.

However, as Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade reported in February, Elem Group was in the process of closing itself.

In June 2024, KBR-Technologii, another company from Kazakhstan, was targeted by U.S. sanctions for supplying components for unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia. In turn, Kazakhstani authorities said that they would find out the reasons the company was sanctioned.