The U.S. State Department has announced the imposition of economic sanctions against three Russian state enterprises that are allegedly producing military supplies for states that the United States claims support international terrorism. The companies are the Tula Instrument Construction Bureau, the Basalt research-industrial enterprise, and Aviation Factory No. 168 in Rostov-na-Donu. According to RBK, the three companies are suspected of providing military-use equipment to Libya, Sudan, and Syria. The companies are not the first Russian firms to be so sanctioned. In 1998, the State Department listed several companies linked to the Atomic Energy Ministry for allegedly exporting equipment used for conducting nuclear-weapons tests. The following year, 10 other firms were listed for allegedly transferring sensitive technologies to Iran, and three more for selling military equipment to Syria. Companies on the State Department list are barred from working with the U.S. government or U.S. companies and from selling their products in the United States. Although many of the Russian firms under sanction are state-owned, the United States does not plan to impose sanctions against the Russian government. According to ITAR-TASS, officials at Basalt and the Tula design bureau have denied the U.S. allegations. (gazeta.ru)