Prominent Russian Businessmen, Officials on New US Sanctions List
Below are the names of the most prominent businessmen targeted along with their main assets/connections and extracts from the U.S. Treasury statement.
Designated Russian oligarchs
OLEG DERIPASKA, main owner of En+, co-owner of Rusal and Norilsk Nickel Deripaska, is ranked by Forbes magazine as Russia's 19th-richest businessman with a net worth of $6.7 billion. Deripaska holds regular meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, invested heavily in Russia's 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, and has said his own interests are indivisible from the state's.
En+ has a 48 percent stake in Rusal, one of the world's largest aluminium producers. Rusal is listed in Hong Kong and counts Glencore among its shareholders.
Rusal has assets in Italy, Ireland, Sweden, as well as Nigeria, Guyana, Guinea, and a stake in Australian QAL, the world's top alumina refinery. Over 10 percent of Rusal's total sales go to the United States.
From U.S. Treasury Department: "Oleg Deripaska is being designated ... for having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, a senior official of the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as ... for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy."
VIKTOR VEKSELBERG, key owner of Renova holding group. Forbes ranks Vekselberg as Russia's ninth-richest businessman with a net worth of $14.4 billion. He is famous for bringing back a collection of Faberge eggs to Russia.
Apart from Russia, Renova has assets in the United States and Europe, of which the most notable are stakes in the Swiss companies Sulzer, Schmolz+Bickenbach and Oerlikon. They are not under sanctions.
Vekselberg and his partners also have a stake in Rusal, which supplies aluminium to the United States and other countries.
From U.S. Treasury Department: "Viktor Vekselberg is being designated for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. Vekselberg is the founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Renova Group."
KIRILL SHAMALOV, minority shareholder with petrochemical company Sibur Shamalov. He married Putin's youngest daughter Katerina in February 2013, multiple sources who were at the wedding told Reuters. After the marriage, he swiftly grew his wealth through investments in Russia's biggest petrochemical company, Sibur.
Unconfirmed media reports say Shamalov and Putin's daughter have since split.
Forbes says Shamalov is Russia's 72nd-richest businessman with a net worth of $1.4 billion. Shamalov now owns 3.9 percent of Sibur. Gennady Timchenko, a close associate of Putin, holds a stake in the company as well.
Sibur is not under sanctions.
From U.S. Treasury Department: "Kirill Shamalov is being designated for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. Shamalov married Putin's daughter Katerina Tikhonova in February 2013 and his fortunes drastically improved following the marriage."
ANDREI SKOCH, a deputy in the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament. Forbes says Skoch is Russia's 23rd-wealthiest businessman with a net worth of $4.9 billion. Skoch's father, Vladimir, owns a stake in USM holding. Businessman Alisher Usmanov is a key shareholder in USM. Neither Usmanov nor USM is under sanctions.
Via USM, Skoch's father co-owns Metalloinvest, Russia's largest and the world's second-largest mining company by the size of iron ore reserves, with units in Ireland, Switzerland and Guinea.
USM also has stakes in Megafon, Russia's second-largest mobile operator, in MAIL.RU Group, one of Russia's largest internet companies, and in Russian social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.
USM also has stakes in Alibaba, JD.com, Xiaomi, Uber, Spotify, Airbnb, Zalando, Flipkart, Ola Cabs, Didi Chuxing, ZocDoc and Klarna.
From U.S. Treasury Department: "Andrei Skoch is being designated for being an official of the government of the Russian Federation. Skoch is a deputy of the Russian Federation's State Duma."
SULEIMAN KERIMOV, member of the Russian upper house of parliament. Kerimov is ranked by Forbes as Russia's 20th-wealthiest businessman, with a net worth of $6.4 billion.
He is embroiled in a tax fraud investigation in France. The Kremlin has said it will do all it can to help him.
Polyus, Russia's largest gold producer, is controlled by Kerimov's family. Polyus is not under sanctions.
From U.S. Treasury Department: "Suleiman Kerimov is being designated for being an official of the government of the Russian Federation. Kerimov is a member of the Russian Federation Council."
VLADIMIR BOGDANOV, chief executive of oil company Surgutneftegaz. Forbes puts Bogdanov's net worth at $1.8 billion, making him Russia's 53rd-wealthiest businessman.
Surgutneftegaz is already under sanctions.
From U.S. Treasury Department: "Vladimir Bogdanov is being designated for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. Bogdanov is the director general and vice chairman of the Board of Directors of Surgutneftegaz, a vertically integrated oil company operating in Russia."
IGOR ROTENBERG, son of Arkady Rotenberg, Putin's former judo partner Forbes says Igor Rotenberg is Russia's 93rd-richest businessman and worth $1.1 billion.
Arkady Rotenberg and his brother Boris Rotenberg are already under sanctions due to their close connections to Putin, whom they have known since they practiced judo together in St. Petersburg in Putin's younger days. Arkady Rotenberg is now overseeing the construction of a bridge Putin has championed to Russia-annexed Crimea.
From U.S. Treasury Department: "Igor Rotenberg is being designated for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. Rotenberg acquired significant assets from his father, Arkady Rotenberg, after OFAC designated the latter in March 2014. Specifically Arkady Rotenberg sold Igor Rotenberg 79 percent of the Russian oil and gas drilling company Gazprom Burenie."
Designated oligarch-owned companies
Companies from Deripaska's business empire: B-Finance Ltd., Basic Element, EN+ Group, EuroSibEnergo, Rusal, Russian Machines, GAZ Group, Agroholding Kuban.
Companies from Igor Rotenberg's business empire: Gazprom Burenie, which provides oil and gas exploration services in Russia, and NPV Engineering.
Shamalov's Ladoga Menedzhment, which is engaged in deposit banking.
Vekselberg's Renova Group.
Designated Russian state-owned firms
Rosoboroneksport and the Russian Financial Corporation Bank, which is owned by Rosoboroneksport.
Designated Russian government officials
Andrey Akimov, chairman of the board at Gazprombank.
Andrey Kostin, president of VTB bank.
*Alexey Miller, chief executive of Gazprom.
Mikhail Fradkov, president of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies.
Sergey Fursenko, member of the board of directors of Gazprom Neft.
Oleg Govorun, head of the Presidential Directorate for Social and Economic Cooperation with the Commonwealth of Independent States Member Countries.
Alexey Dyumin, the governor of the Tula region.
Vladimir Kolokoltsev, the minister of internal affairs.
Konstantin Kosachev, the chairperson of the council of the Federation Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Federation Security Council.
Vladislav Reznik, member of the Russian State Duma.
Evgeniy Shkolov, an aide to Putin.
Alexander Torshin, deputy governor of the central bank.
Vladimir Ustinov, the plenipotentiary envoy to Russia's Southern Federal District.
Timur Valiulin, the head of the General Administration for Combating Extremism within Russia's Interior Ministry.
Alexander Zharov, the head of Roskomnadzor.
Viktor Zolotov, the director of the Federal Service of National Guard Troops and commander of the National Guard Troops.
*Gazprom's key European partners include OMV, Engie, Uniper, Royal Dutch Shell, BASF, E.ON, Eni, Gasunie, as well as Turkey's Botas, China's CNPC, Japan's Mitsui and Mitsubishi, among others.
Data from OFAC, public interviews, companies information.