US democrats worried about lifting sanctions from RUSAL

WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (PRIME) – The Democrats in the U.S House of Representatives are concerned with the Treasury’s decision to lift sanctions from companies formerly controlled by Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska, and are working on measures to prevent these steps in the future, chairpersons of four House’s committees said in a joint letter late on Tuesday.

In April, the U.S. imposed sanctions against 38 Russian tycoons, government officials and companies, including Oleg Deripaska and companies he controlled – En+ Group, aluminum giant UC RUSAL, and power producer EuroSibEnergo. Earlier in January, Deripaska transferred control over the companies, and his representatives were removed from their board of directors, and the Treasury lifted the sanctions on January 27.

The U.S. Congress is worried whether the lifting was justified. The House of Representatives passed a resolution on a mandatory discussion of the move, but the Senate’s vote on the matter failed and the Treasury’s decision came into force.

“We are considering additional legislative actions to ensure that the Treasury and these companies comply with the agreement in letter and in spirit, and to prevent something like this from happening again in the future,” chairpersons of the House Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Financial Services committees said in their joint statement.

They also expressed doubt that the agreement between Deripaska and the Treasury on ownership over these companies is an adequate measure.

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