OFAC removes former Otkritie chief Mikhail Zadornov from Russia sanctions list

WASHINGTON, April 3, 2026 - The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday removed Mikhail Mikhaylovich Zadornov from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List under the Russia-related program, with the April 3 action showing his entry as deleted from the SDN List.

Zadornov was originally added by OFAC on April 20, 2022, under Executive Order 14024. The 2022 listing identified him as linked to Public Joint Stock Company Bank Financial Corporation Otkritie, one of Russia’s major lenders, and his SDN entry specifically tied him to the bank.

For designation context, E.O. 14024 is the main U.S. authority used to target actors tied to Russia’s harmful foreign activities, including persons operating in sectors of the Russian economy that Washington has determined are sanctionable. OFAC used that authority heavily after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to target financial institutions and their senior figures.

For delisting context, OFAC says removals are based on a thorough review and can follow a finding that there was an insufficient basis for the listing or that the circumstances leading to the sanctions no longer apply. The agency’s published process allows listed parties to petition for reconsideration under 31 C.F.R. 501.807.

OFAC did not publish a press announcement on the April 3 removal explaining why Zadornov was delisted. Separate reporting and company-related coverage indicate he left Otkritie at the start of 2023 after VTB acquired the bank, but Treasury has not said whether that change was a factor in the removal.