OFAC designates Cuba's CUPET and a Russia-linked metals-payments network on the SDN List
Sanctions-screening teams must block transactions involving Cuba's CUPET and the newly designated Russia-linked parties, catch both the RAYKES/RAIKES spellings, and escalate Sberbank and VEND ORE control links
Change
On 11 June 2026 the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Cuba's state oil enterprise UNION CUBA PETROLEO (CUPET) and Russia-related parties — Sergey Maltsev, linked to Sberbank, and dual-national Olga Raykes (a.k.a. Raikes) — to the SDN List, and amended the VEND ORE GMBH entry, with all Russia entries carrying secondary-sanctions risk under E.O. 14024.
Why it matters
The action blocks Cuba's state-owned oil company CUPET under the Cuba program and adds Russia-related parties under E.O. 14024, all subject to secondary sanctions. Direct-name matches must be treated as blocked. Olga Raykes is listed under two transliterations — RAYKES and RAIKES — with the same date of birth and passports, so screening must resolve both spellings to one blocked person and use the listed Russian and Israeli passport numbers for identity matching. Control links require escalation: Maltsev is linked to Sberbank, and the amended VEND ORE GMBH entry now links only to Marat Savelov after Raykes was removed and listed in her own right. CUPET's designation reaches its subsidiaries through OFAC's 50 percent rule.
Implications
- — Sanctions-screening teams at financial institutions must add UNION CUBA PETROLEO (CUPET), Sergey Maltsev, Olga Raykes and the amended VEND ORE GMBH entry to sanctions filters and block any matching transaction — designations are effective on listing, so unscreened exposure is a blocking-obligation breach, and CUPET's blocking extends to entities it owns 50 percent or more.
- — Screening and match-resolution teams must configure filters to catch both transliterations of the same individual — RAYKES and RAIKES — and use the listed Russian (759916267) and Israeli (32392042) passport numbers as match-resolution inputs, since a single-spelling filter will miss the alias and the dual-nationality identity.
- — Sanctions-screening and correspondent-banking teams must treat the control links as ownership/control matches for escalation: Maltsev linked to Sberbank, and VEND ORE GMBH linked to Marat Savelov — not just direct-name hits.
- — Foreign financial institutions must weigh secondary-sanctions exposure under Section 11 of E.O. 14024 before facilitating significant transactions for the designated Russia-related parties, as such dealings risk OFAC correspondent-account restrictions or designation.
Who is affected
- — Sanctions-screening teams at financial institutions
- — Correspondent-banking sanctions-screening teams
- — Customer due-diligence and AML/KYC teams performing identity resolution