Americans cunningly squeeze Russian business
The story of the Russian metallurgical giant entering the US sanctions list is about to get a denouement. In early April, the US Treasury Department placed Rusal on the so-called SDN list, consisting of “bad guys” and rogue states due to the proximity of the company's main owner Oleg Deripaska to the Kremlin. Washington banned, under pain of secondary sanctions, the sale of Russian company products, and also ordered all residents of the United States of America to get rid of shares in a steel company from Russia.
The result of getting the “black mark” was not slow to affect: Rusal’s stocks collapsed, the oligarch’s fortune shrank by several billion dollars, world aluminum prices went up. The Russian side and the Western partners of the metallurgical company made attempts to soften the position of the US Ministry of Finance. And some progress was achieved. Lawyers of the Russian company asked the American regulator to remove it from the black list. After meeting with Anton Siluanov, US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin made some concessions in trading with Russian aluminum. However, with regard to the person of Oleg Deripaska, the position of the US Treasury remained unshakable: to lift the sanctions from Rusal, the Russian oligarch must lose control of this company.
The result of the American “collision” was Oleg Deripaska’s fundamental agreement to withdraw from Rusal’s management by reducing his stake in the head holding En +, which controls the metallurgical company. The ownership structure today is as follows: the oligarch owns 66% of En +, which owns 48,13% of Rusal. According to the shareholder agreement, at least half of the members of the board of directors of the aluminum producer should be Oleg Deripaska's proteges. If the oligarch sells 17% of his shares in En +, then his share in the parent company will become less than 50%, and he personally will lose control over Rusal.
In turn, Rusal will have to reform its board of directors, which will consist of independent members. An interesting question is who will become the buyer of Oleg Deripaska's shares. On this occasion, different points of view are expressed. Some believe that buyers should be Russian government agencies. Others are inclined to believe that the financial-industrial group itself will buy its stake. Still others are convinced that the share of Oleg Deripaska will go to certain third parties who are not residents of the Russian Federation.
Noteworthy is the statement of the US Treasury regarding Deripaska’s decision to leave Rusal’s leadership:
Apparently, if the oligarch’s plan to withdraw the metallurgical giant from under US sanctions fails, the whole country will have to save Rusal from the budget in the future, and this will be Plan B.
The result of getting the “black mark” was not slow to affect: Rusal’s stocks collapsed, the oligarch’s fortune shrank by several billion dollars, world aluminum prices went up. The Russian side and the Western partners of the metallurgical company made attempts to soften the position of the US Ministry of Finance. And some progress was achieved. Lawyers of the Russian company asked the American regulator to remove it from the black list. After meeting with Anton Siluanov, US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin made some concessions in trading with Russian aluminum. However, with regard to the person of Oleg Deripaska, the position of the US Treasury remained unshakable: to lift the sanctions from Rusal, the Russian oligarch must lose control of this company.
The result of the American “collision” was Oleg Deripaska’s fundamental agreement to withdraw from Rusal’s management by reducing his stake in the head holding En +, which controls the metallurgical company. The ownership structure today is as follows: the oligarch owns 66% of En +, which owns 48,13% of Rusal. According to the shareholder agreement, at least half of the members of the board of directors of the aluminum producer should be Oleg Deripaska's proteges. If the oligarch sells 17% of his shares in En +, then his share in the parent company will become less than 50%, and he personally will lose control over Rusal.
In turn, Rusal will have to reform its board of directors, which will consist of independent members. An interesting question is who will become the buyer of Oleg Deripaska's shares. On this occasion, different points of view are expressed. Some believe that buyers should be Russian government agencies. Others are inclined to believe that the financial-industrial group itself will buy its stake. Still others are convinced that the share of Oleg Deripaska will go to certain third parties who are not residents of the Russian Federation.
Noteworthy is the statement of the US Treasury regarding Deripaska’s decision to leave Rusal’s leadership:
A reduction in the share of ownership of a sanctioned person is not necessarily in itself a ground for delisting
Apparently, if the oligarch’s plan to withdraw the metallurgical giant from under US sanctions fails, the whole country will have to save Rusal from the budget in the future, and this will be Plan B.
- Sergey Marzhetsky
- http://www.trudcontrol.ru/
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