Reuters reported on Friday that Russian companies hit by US sanctions, including aluminum giant Rusal, have asked for 100 billion rubles (US$1.6 billion) in liquidity support from the Government. The country’s Finance Minister, Anton Siluanov,
Rusal operations in Linden
was quoted by Interfax news agency making the announcement, Reuters reported.
The United States on April 6 imposed sanctions against several Russian entities and individuals, including Rusal and its major shareholder Oleg Deripaska, to punish Moscow for its suspected meddling in the 2016 US election and other alleged “malign activity.”
Rusal, the world’s second-biggest aluminum producer, has been particularly hard hit as the sanctions have caused concerns among some customers, suppliers and creditors that they could be blacklisted too through association with the company. A “temporary nationalisation” is an option for some sanctions-hit companies, but not Rusal, Siluanov was quoted as saying. He did not name the companies he was referring to.
According to the Reuters report, a Kremlin spokesman had said on Thursday that temporary nationalisation was one of the options for helping Rusal.
According to another news agency, RIA, Rusal has only requested government support with liquidity and with demand for aluminum so far, Siluanov said.
RIA quoted the Minister as saying the Government was not considering State purchases of aluminum for now.
Locally
Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman was expected to meet with a team of Rusal leaders but is it uncertain whether the meeting was held. Efforts to contact the Minister for an update on the local position were futile.
Meanwhile, despite assurances by Finance Minister Winston Jordan last week that Government was guaranteed that Oldendroff Carriers would not be affected by the sanctions on Thursday reports surfaced that the company has begun scaling back its operations ultimately putting over 200 jobs in jeopardy.
However, Trotman has since stated that the decision was expected and that measures are being put in place to cushion the effect. So, it is unclear as to what is the exact position of the Government.
The US Treasury Department in a statement on Friday announced the sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, 12 companies they either owned or controlled and 17 senior Government officials, who Washington said were profiting from the Russian Government’s engagement in “a range of malign activities” around the world.
The Treasury Department warned that US entities would be “generally prohibited” from dealings with the persons and firms on the sanctions list, while added that companies outside the United States could face sanctions for “knowingly facilitating significant transactions for or on behalf of” the sanctioned entities.
The US Government’s decision to include Deripaska on its sanctions blacklist will reverberate around the world because his business empire has a global footprint and counts major multinationals as partners.
Deripaska, estimated by Forbes magazine to have a net worth of $6.7 billion, is the main owner of the conglomerate EN+, which in turn is the co-owner of some of the world’s biggest metals producers, Rusal and Nornickel.
Deripaska’s inclusion on the US sanctions list could potentially create complications too for companies with which he does business; they include German car giant Volkswagen and commodities trader Glencore.
Rusal had said it regretted its inclusion on the US sanctions list, adding that its advisors were studying the situation. Hong Kong-listed Rusal is one of the world’s biggest aluminum producers. It says exports to the United States account for over 10 per cent of its output.
Rusal owns assets in Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Nigeria, Guyana, and Guinea. It owns a stake in Australian QAL, the world’s top alumina refinery.
