Deripaska calls memo on sanctions justification groundless accusations

MOSCOW, May 29 (PRIME) -- Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska’s representatives have called the evidentiary memorandum issued by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which justifies sanctions against him, as a poorly compiled document that is full of false claims and factual inaccuracies and guided by considerations of personal revenge, according to a statement by Deripaska’s office released on Wednesday.

In April 2018, the U.S. included Deripaska and companies controlled by him in the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. In January 2019, the U.S. Treasury lifted sanctions from the three companies after Deripaska reduced his stake in En+ Group to below 44.95% and stopped running it via the board of directors.

On Tuesday, the OFAC issued a list of documents that the U.S. government believes justify sanctions against Deripaska, with the evidentiary memorandum alleging that he acted or purported to act on behalf of a senior Russian government official and operates in the Russian energy sector and citing media articles and Deripaska’s old interviews as this justification. Evidence largely includes articles from Western media, information from anonymous sources and assumptions.

Deripaska’s representatives called the memorandum “a poorly researched report full of false statements and factual inaccuracies.”

“It’s outrageous that OFAC officials did not seem to have burdened themselves with finding evidence, took personal revenge, ruining a person’s life, his business and putting hundreds of thousands of people, including workers and community members, as well as investors (Russian and international), at risk. This is more than professional incompetence ... a gross violation in the public service and raises serious questions about the objectivity and the true goals pursued by OFAC investigations,” the statement said.

Commenting on an old article stating that Deripaska purchased an aluminum plant in Montenegro in 2005 as part of President Vladimir Putin’s plan to seize control over the country’s economy, Deripaska’s office called it a lie saying that the facility was not purchased for political reasons.

Deripaska’s office also denied information that the businessman is working in the energy sector, as En+ Group founded by him is rather an electric power company.

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