Swordsmyth
12-19-2018, 04:06 PM
Offering some relief to industrial firms in the US and Europe, which have struggled with higher aluminum prices (on top of Trump's tariffs on aluminum entering the US), the Treasury announced on Wednesday that it has struck a deal with Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska to remove sanctions on Rusal, En+ Group Plc and JSC EuroSibEnergo in exchange for Deripaska reducing his ownership stake in each company below 50%, committing to a "complete overhaul" of each company's board, and agreeing to "unprecedented transparency" (including agreeing to auditing, reporting and certification) in the companies' operations.
The announcement is the result of months of negotiations between Deripaska and the Treasury after the latter added the former and his companies to the US sanctions list in April - a move that made Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer outside of China, the largest company to ever be sanctioned by the Treasury. Since April, aluminum prices have climbed while shares of the firms, which trade in London, have fallen by more than $9 bilion, according to Bloomberg. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-19/trump-ready-to-remove-sanctions-on-deripaska-s-rusal-in-30-days)
The companies will be officially relieved of sanctions in 30 days, unless Congress votes to continue the sanctions. Deripaska and his companies were sanctioned in April (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-24/us-imposes-new-russia-sanctions-will-stay-place-until-change-russian-behavior) as part of the US's response for allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
According to the Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/3be0bc06-03b5-11e9-99df-6183d3002ee1), Deripaska has already ripped up shareholder agreements that gave him control over the two companies, sacked executives close to him and installed new independent directors.
In his statement, Mnuchin noted that Deripaska, not his companies, was the intended target of the sanctions, and that the oligarch, who purportedly has close ties to the Kremlin, would remain on the sanctions list.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-19/treasury-drops-sanctions-against-rusal-after-striking-deal-russian-oligarch
The announcement is the result of months of negotiations between Deripaska and the Treasury after the latter added the former and his companies to the US sanctions list in April - a move that made Rusal, the world's largest aluminum producer outside of China, the largest company to ever be sanctioned by the Treasury. Since April, aluminum prices have climbed while shares of the firms, which trade in London, have fallen by more than $9 bilion, according to Bloomberg. (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-19/trump-ready-to-remove-sanctions-on-deripaska-s-rusal-in-30-days)
The companies will be officially relieved of sanctions in 30 days, unless Congress votes to continue the sanctions. Deripaska and his companies were sanctioned in April (https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-08-24/us-imposes-new-russia-sanctions-will-stay-place-until-change-russian-behavior) as part of the US's response for allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
According to the Financial Times (https://www.ft.com/content/3be0bc06-03b5-11e9-99df-6183d3002ee1), Deripaska has already ripped up shareholder agreements that gave him control over the two companies, sacked executives close to him and installed new independent directors.
In his statement, Mnuchin noted that Deripaska, not his companies, was the intended target of the sanctions, and that the oligarch, who purportedly has close ties to the Kremlin, would remain on the sanctions list.
More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-12-19/treasury-drops-sanctions-against-rusal-after-striking-deal-russian-oligarch