US Congress members want sanctions for Yevtushenkov, his business

MOSCOW, Jun 22 (PRIME) -- U.S. Congress members Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mark Walker have asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to clarify whether Russian businessman Vladimir Yevtushenkov “meets the criteria to be sanctioned under the appropriate authorities,” according to a letter dated May 16, seen by PRIME on Friday.

Yevtushenkov, the majority owner and chairman of holding Sistema, was on the list of senior political figures and oligarchs in Russia. Shares of Sistema’s largest asset, telecom operator MTS, are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the letter read.

“According to publicly available information, Mr.Yevtushenkov’s companies have been involved in large-scale investment and construction projects in the Crimea region of Ukraine that has been illegally occupied and annexed by the Russian Federation,” the Congress members said.

Sistema spokesman Sergei Kopytov denied that the holding is involved in any investment in Crimea and has not received any inquiries on the matter from the U.S.

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