Despite considerable opposition from Congress to lifting any sanctions
on any Russians for any reason, the Trump Administration has on Sunday lifted sanctions against Russian aluminium company Rusal and some other affiliated companies.
The companies were initially sanctions for being too tightly controlled
by Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire. The Treasury Department was
very clear about its demands to reduce Deripaska’s ownership, and his
control over the board of directors.
Rusal did so, and the Treasury Department argued that they were pretty
much obligated to ease the sanctions, despite Congressional opposition.
The move appears to have been rushed through to avoid any bills getting
through the House forbidding sanctions relief on any Russian companies.
Rusal is the world’s second largest aluminium maker, behind only China’s Hongqiao Group. Rusal was rising substantially on the Hong Kong stock exchange in pre-market action following the announcement.
Deripaska is a thorn in the side of Pres. Putin and can be seen in a clip on youtube from 2012(!) where he is forced to sign on to an agreement with all other business owners. To pretend he is a “crony”, as many do in the West, is another way to blame the Russian leadership.
I highly recommend reading Wikipedia entry on Deripaska.
Hard to believe, but it is all there — until somebody decides to fix it.
All kinds of things going back a while. Ket me just throw names of personal contacts between Derioaska and assorted echelon of Western who is who. Deripaska, McCabe and Muller, with Deripaska spending about quarter million dollars to get CIA agent Levison out of Iran. Sculpered by Clinton’s State Department. Going forward, meeting PERSONALLY with Steele and Ohr, asking his cooperation in linking Putin’s government to crime groups. He reported this attempt at recruiting him to Government, and Russia issued protest to US. Other meetjngs with British Osborne, Nathaniel Rothshield and EU Mendelhson on Deripaska Yacht. Deripaska barely prevailing in England court over an Israeli citizen’s claims of Rusal ownership, while Deripaska proved he paid him only the protection money to keep mafia in Russia off his back. And his presumed toes to Manaford, bolstered by our asset in Russia, Navalny, who produced — gasp — a video of Deripaska and Putin government official on Deripaska yacht.
What is clear — the muddy relationship with US top officials with Russia’s oligarchs, alternatively using them, threatening or punishing if not cooperative or unwilling to soend money for “righr” causes.
Why is Muller still in charge if the investigation, as he himself in his former job as head of FBI had his top lieutenants involved with the person known to have conspired with Ohr and Steele, regardless of Deripaska’s decision to reject them. Was that the case? Then why did FBI pay him a visit when he came to NY later.
His connections with political, financial, law enforcement and intelligence HEAVYWEIGHTS in US, UK, Israel and US is too marked to be ignored. What is behind US insistence that he is working with crime elements, and want him out of RUSAL? Is it a way to blunt anything that he knows and can be harmful? Or is it to protect him by creating false impression of our animosity?
Who knows! But just a short history of Deripaska and his wirk on behalf of Muller’s FBI, and subsequent meetings between Ohr, Steele and Deripaska should be a cause for concern. How can FBI investigate Trump, when they must desparately hide their own tracks in many sordid, intertwining takes?
Oh what a tangled web weave …,