US Sanctions Against Rusal Have No Direct Impact On Russian Economy - Russian Minister

The US sanctions against the Russian aluminum giant Rusal have no direct impact on the Russian economy, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said on Wednesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) The US sanctions against the Russian aluminum giant Rusal have no direct impact on the Russian economy, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said on Wednesday.

"The most important thing is that all the assets located in Russia - the aluminum plant and energy facilities - should continue to operate, to invest and face no threats to the national security. If we look at this situation from this perspective, the situation around production and exports of aluminum as well as generation of energy in the plants of the group [of companies] is normal. That is why de-facto there are no direct problems for the Russian economy and national security now," Oreshkin told the business FM media outlet.

The minister characterized the process of lifting sanctions from Rusal as complicated and controversial as well as pointed out that such companies should remain under the Russian jurisdiction.

"We believe that such companies should remain under the Russian jurisdiction. We have worked for the whole year, the entire fall to make the shift to the Russian jurisdiction easier," the minister added.

The US Treasury announced on December 19 that it would roll back its sanctions on EN+, Rusal and JSC EuroSib Energo after the three firms agreed to sweeping structural changes that will reduce the ownership of Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska and improve transparency. Deripaska himself will remain on the US sanctions list, and his assets will remain sanctioned.