Evrofinance Mosnarbank was placed on the US sanctions list on Monday, according to a Treasury Department notice, for supporting Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA. The US in January sanctioned the oil company.

“This action demonstrates that the United States will take action against foreign financial institutions that sustain the illegitimate Maduro regime and contribute to the economic collapse and humanitarian crisis plaguing the people of Venezuela,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been a long-time ally of Maduro. While more than 50 countries, including the US, have recognised National Assembly leader Juan Guaido as the interim president of Venezuela, Russia has sided with Maduro’s regime. Putin has helped Maduro stave-off further declines in oil production, at least temporarily.

Evrofinance was the primary international bank that helped finance a Venezuelan crypto-currency, petro, which launched in 2018 as a workaround for US sanctions, according to the statement.

The bank was set up in 2011 as a joint venture to build on the alliance between Putin and former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez. Venezuela’s development bank owns 50% of the bank, with the rest split between Russia’s state-controlled Gazprombank and VTB Group.

Evrofinance’s press service declined immediate comment.

Once South America’s richest nation, Venezuela has suffered deeply under Maduro with poverty, violence, hyperinflation, food shortages and crippling electricity outages.