Mnuchin says Deripaska and family are minority Rusal owners

10th April 2019 By: Bloomberg

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska and his family together own less than a majority of shares in United Co. Rusal, the world’s second-largest aluminum producer, after a settlement to get the company out from under US sanctions.

The deal left Deripaska and “related entities” with a 45% stake in Rusal, Mnuchin said Tuesday at a House Financial Services Committee hearing. Some shares of the company were transferred to Deripaska’s children through a divorce decree that “legally bound” him to do so, according to Mnuchin.

“They don’t have more than a majority,” Mnuchin said of Deripaska and his family.

Moscow-based Rusal won relief from US sanctions after eight months of negotiations with the Treasury Department that led to Deripaska agreeing to reduce his ownership and relinquish control of the company.

The US sanctioned Deripaska last April as part of a package targeting allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin for interference in the 2016 US presidential election. He remains personally sanctioned.