US licence cleared sale of VTB’s Armenian copper mine to Texas firm

The record

A Texas-based company managed by the Russian-American businessman Konstantin Sokolov received permission from the US Treasury to buy Teghut, one of Armenia’s largest copper mines, from the sanctioned Russian state bank VTB, according to an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published on 21 September 2026.

ICIJ sets the licence alongside Sokolov’s political giving. He gave $11 million to MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC, in 2025 and is one of about three dozen private donors to the $350 million White House ballroom project. The Ledgers sets out the documented sequence below; neither ICIJ nor any authority has alleged that the licence was granted in return for donations.

A bank under full blocking sanctions

The US Treasury placed VTB under full blocking sanctions on 24 February 2022, days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Its announcement described VTB as Russia’s second-largest financial institution and majority-owned by the Russian state. The designation bars US persons from dealing with the bank unless the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) authorises a transaction, either by a general licence or by a specific licence issued on application.

Before the sale, according to ICIJ, VTB was Teghut’s main shareholder and creditor.

The sequence of the deal

ICIJ reports that VTB’s chairman said in April that the bank was in the final stages of selling the mine. Dynamic Frontier Holdings, the company Sokolov manages, said in a statement on 3 September that it had received authorisation from the Treasury on 1 June to acquire Teghut’s shares and debt. Sokolov’s spokesperson confirmed to ICIJ that OFAC had granted a licence.

VTB’s deputy chairman told the Russian news agency Interfax that the bank had sold its Teghut interests in June to a “group of international investors” for about 4 billion roubles, or roughly $46.5 million. Armenia’s competition authority approved the deal on 7 July. Armenian media later reported that the buyer was a company founded by Sergei Virabyan, a former Armenian official and banker; asked whether Sokolov owns the mine, Virabyan called the information a “commercial secret”.

In July Sokolov was also appointed chairman of a new $200 million State Department enterprise fund for the south Caucasus and central Asia, a region in which Armenia is expected to be a major beneficiary. ICIJ notes that he has wider business interests in Armenian banking and telecommunications.

The responses

Sokolov’s spokesperson told ICIJ there was “no evidential basis” for linking his donations to the licence and called any such suggestion “wholly misplaced”, describing the purchase as a long-term commitment to a strategically important Armenian mineral asset. The Treasury did not answer ICIJ’s questions about the licence. Mesrop Manukyan, a member of Armenia’s National Assembly, said Sokolov’s dual role raised questions about the separation between private commercial interests and decisions involving government-backed funds.

Questions that remain unanswered

On what grounds did OFAC conclude that the transaction should be authorised, and what conditions, if any, did it attach? Who are the ultimate beneficial owners of the mine today? And how will the State Department fund manage potential conflicts between its chairman’s private holdings and its investments in Armenia?

Specific licences are a lawful part of the US sanctions system; The Ledgers has not seen the licence for this deal. The account above rests on ICIJ’s reporting, the company’s statement as reported by ICIJ and official Treasury documents. No wrongdoing has been alleged against Sokolov, Dynamic Frontier or the Treasury, and the timing of donations and approvals does not by itself establish any connection between them.

Based on reporting from: ICIJ · 21 September 2026; US Treasury · Russia sanctions incl. VTB Bank · 24 February 2022; OFAC · Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions programme.