Treasury Says It Will Ease Sanctions On Major Firm If It Cuts Ties With Jewish Oligarch
Oleg Deripaska Image by Wikimedia
By Ari Feldman April 25, 2018
The U.S. Treasury announced Tuesday it was easing sanctions on a major Russian aluminum firm — and said it would do away with the sanctions altogether if the firm cut ties with Russian Jewish oligarch Oleg Deripaska, POLITICO reported.
The firm, Rusal, is the second-largest aluminum producer in the world. Deripaska, 50, is the company’s majority shareholder — and has close ties to Putin. Deripaska has been at the forefront of efforts to brighten Russia’s image in the Western world. This year the AP reported that Paul Manafort began receiving $10 million a year from Deripaska in 2006 to do just that. The Washington Post reported that in July 2016, Manafort emailed an intermediary between him and Deripaska this message: “If he needs private briefings we can accommodate.”
American companies can currently do business with Rusal without being penalized. But the lack penalties is only a grace periods, and companies are expected to find other sources of aluminum before full sanctions go into effect. The Treasury has largely based sanctions on Rusal on its connection to Deripaska, and has accused Deripaska of money laundering, extortion and ordering the killing of a rival businessman.
“RUSAL has felt the impact of U.S. sanctions because of its entanglement with Oleg Deripaska, but the U.S. government is not targeting the hardworking people who depend on RUSAL and its subsidiaries,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
