My prompt to Claude, copy/pasting the names from the email I got from OFSI:

today, the UK updated the Russian sanctions designations for the following 3 parties: EKC.AG

Vladimir Viktorovich PLATUNOV

Evgeny Viktorovich PROKHNYA Do these 3 parties have any relationship between them? Check your work – and list sources.

And Claude’s response:

The relationship here is direct and well-documented. Here’s the full picture:

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The Core Relationship: EKC.AG, Platunov, and Prokhnya/Porokhnya are co-owners and directors of the same corporate network.

EKC.AG is a Germany-based company headquartered in Bavaria, led by Vladimir Platunov, a Russian citizen who has lived in Germany since the 1990s. Evgeny Porokhnya is also part of the company’s leadership team and holds a Russian passport.

EKC.AG was originally founded in 2006 as “Europakontakt e.K.” by Vladimir Platunov, today’s CEO of EKC.AG — a globally active raw materials trader specializing in energy and industrial resources.

German corporate registration records list both Vladimir Platunov and Evgeny Porokhnya as Managing Directors across multiple related entities, including Europakontakt Management GmbH, with a registered seat in Würzburg.

Why they were designated:

EKC.AG is described as a Germany-based raw materials trader and part of a network supplying the Russian defense sector with critical minerals used to produce armaments. EKC.AG’s co-owners, Russian nationals Evgeny Viktorovich Porokhnya and Vladimir Viktorovich Platunov, are among those sanctioned for enabling and supplying the Russian defense sector.

From January 2023 to April 2024, EKC exported chromium worth approximately 24 million euros to Russia, which accounted for more than half of total annual imports of that metal into Russia during the period. The defense industry uses chromium to protect cannon barrels from severe wear and shells from corrosion, with the durability of artillery pieces tripling with chromium use. Among EKC’s clients was Uralvagonzavod, a key producer of armored vehicles for the Russian military.

The UK’s statement of reasons for Platunov makes the ownership link explicit: Platunov owns or controls directly or indirectly, or works as a director of, EKC.AG and EK-RESOURCE LLC, which are providing financial services, or making available funds, economic resources, goods or technology, that could contribute to destabilising Ukraine. His listed positions include CEO of EKC.AG, Commercial Director of EK-RESOURCES LLC, and Director of P&P HOLDING GMBH.

Original designation date: On February 24, 2025, the United Kingdom included EKC.AG in its sanctions list. In response, the company announced its intention to challenge the sanctions in court, calling them unlawful. Platunov and Porokhnya were designated in the same notice.

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⚠️ Name Spelling Flag — Check Your Source

There is a discrepancy worth checking. You’ve listed the individual as PROKHNYA, but every authoritative source — including the UK’s own OFSI financial sanctions notice, the GFSC notice, OpenSanctions, and secondary legal commentary — spells the surname POROKHNYA (Evgeny Viktorovich POROKHNYA, UK Unique ID: RUS2443). Today’s update may involve a correction to the transliteration, or there may be a data entry issue on your end. I’d recommend cross-referencing today’s actual FCDO sanctions notice PDF against the UK consolidated list before publishing.

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Sources:

1. UK OFSI Financial Sanctions Notice, 24 February 2025 (via CIMA.ky mirror): statement of reasons for Platunov/RUS2442
2. Curtis, Mallet-Prevost legal update, March 2025 — curtis.com
3. Odessa Journal reporting on EKC.AG chromium exports — odessa-journal.com
4. LeaveRussia.org company profile — leave-russia.org/ekc-ag
5. NorthData German corporate registry (Platunov/Porokhnya co-directorships) — northdata.com
6. GFSC Sanctions Notice (Guernsey FSC) — gfsc.gg
7. OpenSanctions entries for both individuals — opensanctions.org

That last little bit was a good catch on Claude’s part – if you follow the link to FCDO’s designation page, you find the spelling is POROKHNYA

The point of the exercise? It’s easy to see 3 designations or updates and miss the bigger picture of how they might be related. It’s harder for that to happen with new designations, at least in the US, because the press releases from Treasury or State often lay those out (often with greater detail and context than you get in the actual designation).

I think it’s an exercise worth repeating from time to time, if not all the time…