BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2019/05
On Sunday (Jan. 27) the Treasury lifted sanctions on the energy company EN+, the aluminium producer Rusal and the energy producer EuroSibEnergo. EN+ owns large stakes in Rusal and EuroSibEnergo.
The companies were added to the sanctions regime against Russia in April because sanctioned business magnate Oleg Deripaska, who has close ties with the Kremlin, directly or indirectly held substantial stakes in all three companies. The sanctions were lifted after Deripaska’s holdings in the companies were transferred to the Russian VTB Bank and other entities in order to reduce his overall holdings below 50 %. The sanctions on Deripaska himself remain in place.
Because the divestment has little effect on the Russian government’s ties to these companies, some factions in the US Congress sought to oppose the lifting of sanctions. However, they were not able to gather enough support to block it.