US Continuing Business In Russia Both In Interest Of US Gov't, Russian Economy - AmCham

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2018) The continuation of US companies' operation in Russia would serve the interests of both the US government and the Russian economy, President and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (AmCham) Alexis Rodzianko said on Friday.

"If sanctions continue, you will not find it funny. If not, we will cope with it. We hope that we will cope with it ... This is both in the interest of the US government and the Russian economy that we continue working here," Rodzianko said at an investment conference organized by AmCham.

According to Rodzianko, the threat of new sanctions is real and holds back US-Russian business development.

The AmCham head also expressed regret over the new draft bills outlining more sanctions against Russia that are being considered by the US Congress.

"We have bills in the US Congress. If you read them, doing business seems impossible for US companies and private entrepreneurs," Rodzianko said.

On August 2, a group of US senators led by Lindsey Graham introduced an extensive sanctions bill against Russia in response to its alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, and "malign influence in Syria, aggression in Crimea.

" Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported that the senators were trying to block dollar-denominated transactions by Russian banks and US purchases of the country's sovereign debt.

Meanwhile, the United States launched a separate set of sanctions on August 27 over Moscow's alleged use of chemical weapons in the March poisoning of Russian ex-double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the UK city of Salisbury. Moscow has strongly denied all the accusations, pointing to the lack of evidence.

This was the first of two rounds of sanctions and included a ban on deliveries of dual-purpose electronic devices and components to Russia. According to media reports, the second round of sanctions is expected to roll out in November, and may include scaling back diplomatic relations, suspending flights of Russian airline Aeroflot to the United States and almost completely ceasing US exports. According to the US State Department, Russia could avoid these measures by assuring it will never use chemical weapons in the future.