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The United States has announced that it will impose sanctions on oligarch Vladimir Potanin for his ties to the Russian president and the war effort in Ukraine.
The US State Department revealed on Wednesday that Potanin, 61, was added to the sanctions list for his involvement in the Interros group, a conglomerate he founded and operates in the manufacturing, construction and financial sectors.
Vladimir Potanin, the Russian oligarch friend of Putin who escaped sanctions. Your nickel mines could rock the world economy
According to The Guardian, Potanin is currently the second richest man in Russia???????? It had already been sanctioned by the United Kingdom in June, but not by the European Union or the US. Only now, nine months after the outbreak of the war, the US authorities decided to add it to their list, noting that it has “ties direct” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The oligarch amassed his fortune along with several privatizing oligarchs in Russia during the 1990s – during Boris Yeltsin’s tenure – while serving as deputy prime minister. The Wall Street Journal mentions that another source of his wealth is his ties to the Nornickel mining company, where he is one of the main shareholders.
In addition to the oligarch, the US will also impose sanctions on his wife, Ekaterina Potanina, two of his children, Ivan Vladimirovich Potanin and Anastasia Vladimirovna Potanina, the yacht Nirvana, and the Interros itself.
The US Treasury Department announced that the Rosbank bank, acquired by the Russian businessman at the beginning of the year, will also be subject to restrictions, as well as 17 entities linked to the Russian financial sector. “By sanctioning major Russian banks, we continue to deepen the isolation of global markets,” said Brian Nelson, one of the department’s secretaries. “The measures announced by the United States, together with the measures taken by our partners, will help prevent the Putin regime from financing the terrible war against Ukraine,” he added.
Source: Observadora
