Kaspersky Lab says U.S. sanctions targeting its management won't affect its stability

MOSCOW. June 24 (Interfax) - Kaspersky Lab said that the addition of its senior managers to the sanctions list of the United States Department of the Treasury would not affect the company's stability and believes that this decision is unfounded.

"This step will not affect the company's stability, because Kaspersky Lab itself, its subsidiaries and general director are not on the OFAC list," the company told Interfax.

The company added that it views OFAC's decision on personal sanctions as unfounded.

"This step was the follow up to the decisions of the U.S. government targeting Kaspersky Lab and made based on the current geopolitical situation and theoretical concerns instead of a comprehensive analysis of the integrity of products of the company and its operational processes," Kaspersky Lab said.

"Neither Kaspersky Lab, nor its management have ties to any government, and we believe that the accusations cited by OFAC are speculations, because no credible evidence was provided," it said.

On Friday, the U.S. extended its sanctions lists on Friday to include 12 Russians who work for Kaspersky Lab, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said earlier.

In particular, the sanctions target Kaspersky Lab's Chief Operating Officer Andrey Tikhonov, Chief Business Development Officer Andrey Yefremov, Executive Vice President for Corporate Business Kirill Astrakhan, Chief Human Resources Officer Marina Alekseeva, Chief Legal Officer Igor Chekunov, and Deputy CEO of Strategy and Economics Daniil Borshchev.

The administration of President Joe Biden is fully banning U.S. companies and citizens from using the software of the Russian company Kaspersky Lab for reasons of national security, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said earlier.