Washington prolongs deadline for RUSAL, En+ deals to June 6

WASHINGTON/MOSCOW/STOCKHOLM, May 3 (PRIME) -- The U.S. Treasury Department has extended the deadline for investors to stop business with sanctioned Russian companies, including aluminum giant UC RUSAL, En+Group and carmaker GAZ Group, till June 6 from May 7, the department said in a statement on Wednesday.

On April 6, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury of the U.S. blacklisted several companies and individuals, including RUSAL and multi-industry holding En+ Group both controlled by businessman Oleg Deripaska.

The department also prolonged the deadline for the sale of shares in agricultural holding Kuban, holding Basic Element, B-Finance, SC EuroSibEnergo, Gazprom Bureniye, Ladoga Management, АО NPV Engineering, and Renova Group.

The London Stock Exchange said that it would not stop trade in global depositary receipts (GDR) of En+ until June 1 following the extension of the deadline by the U.S. Treasury Department.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview to Bloomberg TV on Tuesday that Washington did not see RUSAL as the target of the sanctions, as the U.S. targeted owners of the company. Tycoon Deripaska has to sell his shares to own less than 50% in the company, Mnuchin said.

But the sanctions against Deripaska and RUSAL hit the world-wide supply chain of aluminum as well. In mid-April, Rio Tinto announced plans to declare a force majeure on several contracts with aluminum producer RUSAL. But Bloomberg reported on Monday that the Australian-British company resumed purchases of alumina from RISAL.

Sweden’s Radio SR also reported on Wednesday quoting local subsidiary of EON that power supplies to Kubal, a Swedish plant of RUSAL, would continue for a while.

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