By Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Thursday targeted Russia’s financial services sector and Russian businessman Vladimir Potanin, increasing pressure on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
Washington imposed sanctioned on Potanin, one of Russia’s richest men, as well as his wife, adult children, yacht and Interros, an investment holding company Potanin controls, the State Department said in a statement.
Potanin, 61, is the largest shareholder at Nornickel, which was not designated on Thursday. Interros owns 36% of Nornickel, the world’s top palladium and refined nickel producer.
The U.S. Treasury Department said Washington also imposed sanctions on Rosbank, a Russia-based commercial bank it said Potanin acquired this year, along with 17 subsidiaries of Russian bank VTB, which Washington previously designated.
“By sanctioning additional major Russian banks, we continue to deepen Russia’s isolation from global markets,” the Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in the statement.
“Today’s designations by the United States, together with actions taken by our international partners, will further inhibit the Putin regime’s ability to fund its horrific war against Ukraine.”
The move freezes any U.S. assets of those designated and generally bars Americans from dealing financially with them.
Nornickel declined to comment. Interros and Russia’s embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to Reuters requests for comment.
Rosbank said the U.S. sanctions “will not have a material impact on our operations. We maintain all best practices and standards for the benefit of our clients.”
VTB, Russia’s second largest lender, said the U.S. sanctions on companies affiliated with VTB “are yet another proof of the desire to put pressure on businesses, partners and counterparties for their own benefit.”
“This is a politicised decision, which, however, will not particularly affect our work. VTB itself has been living under sanctions since February 2022. We know how to adapt.”
Nornickel’s second largest shareholder, aluminum producer Rusal, said on Thursday that mitigating sanctions risks should be the absolute priority of Nornickel’s management. “Rusal, as a key shareholder, is interested in preserving Nornickel’s sustainability… Rusal is not under sanctions, therefore its presence as a shareholder at Nornickel will contribute to Nornickel’s sustainability.”
In 2021 Nornickel was the world’s top producer of refined nickel, used to make stainless steel and important for electric vehicle batteries. It also extracted 10% of the world’s platinum and 40% of its palladium, which is used in car exhausts.
The State Department also imposed sanctions on members of the board of directors of state-owned Russian Railways, members of the government, including the governor of the Moscow region, as well as their family members.
Also designated were seven “Russia-appointed proxy authorities in Ukraine,” the State Department said.
The United States and its allies have imposed several tranches of sanctions targeting Moscow following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, which has reduced cities to rubble and killed or wounded thousands.
Thursday’s move brings the United States in line with sanctions the United Kingdom imposed on Potanin in June.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Alistair Bell and Josie Kao)
