January20.2019

On January 17th, more than 130 US Republicans, joining the Democrats, disagreed on the decision from the US Treasury Department. With 362 to 53 votes disapproving to ease the sanctions on Russian Companies, the US government would need to reconsider the next decision on the Russian oligarch, Oleg Deripaska.

Oleg Deripaska was the metals magnate and the ally of Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin. His enterprises, United Co. Rusal, En + Group Plc, and EuroSibEnergo JSC were restricted by the US Treasury, aiming to shrink the power of Russia’s entities. With the sanctions from the US Treasury, Deripaska agreed to cut his holdings of the stake from 70% to 44.95 %.

According to Mike McCaul, the Republican from the Taxes State, the result of the voting was to unite the Democrats and the Republicans rather than separate. On the other hand, the Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Eliot Engel, pointed out that the US Congress should not just look for workaround though the US government made the hurry decision.