The United States has added Datavice MCHJ, a company registered in Uzbekistan, to its list of entities sanctioned for ties to Russia. The decision was published on November 19 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
OFAC placed Datavice MCHJ, headquartered in Tashkent, on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List). This designation means all assets of the company under U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and American individuals and companies are prohibited from engaging in financial transactions with it.
Datavice is also subject to the risk of secondary sanctions, meaning that any third-party organizations cooperating with the company may themselves face restrictions.
According to the official document, Datavice is categorized under CAATSA – Russia and CYBER4, indicating involvement in activities connected to supporting Russian infrastructure or cybercrime.
OFAC directly links Datavice MCHJ to the Russian company Aeza Group LLC, which had already been sanctioned by the United States. Aeza Group is accused of providing “bulletproof” hosting services to various cybercriminal groups, including ransomware operators and developers of malicious software. Its alleged clients include groups associated with the BianLian ransomware, as well as the RedLine and BlackSprut platforms involved in illegal online activity. U.S. regulators report that these groups used Aeza’s hosting services to carry out attacks on U.S. defense, industrial, and technology companies, as well as targets worldwide.
Earlier, in 2024, two other Uzbekistan-based companies — Uzstanex and The Elite Investment Group — were added to OFAC’s sanctions lists. In 2023, the Akhangarancement plant was sanctioned due to its affiliation with Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov. The U.S. Treasury noted that a controlling stake in the plant is owned by Akkermann Cement CA, whose founder is part of USM, Usmanov’s holding company.
The first Uzbekistan-based company to be sanctioned by the United States was the private firm PROMCOMPLEKTLOGISTIC, added in June 2022. According to the U.S. State Department, the company continued to work with the Russian enterprise Radioavtomatika even after sanctions were imposed on the latter in March 2022.
