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August 10, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 4
tially impact "hundreds of millions of dollars," according to an unnamed senior State Depart- ment official cited by Reuters.
The department is determined to introduce a second round of “more draconian” sanctions in 90 days unless "Russia gives reliable assurances that it will no longer use chemical weapons and allow on-site inspections by the United Nations or other international observer groups."
The US has already joined the international con- demnation of Skripal poisoning by expelling over 100 Russian diplomats.
However, some see the new Skripal sanctions as a blessing in disguise, which could blow off the steam of post-Helsinki outrage and downplay potentially much harsher sanction bills recently introduced to the US Congress.
"This action is meant to take some wind out of the sails of the various sanctions bills against Russia currently doing the rounds in Congress," Tim Ash of Bluebay Asset Management suggests, argu- ing that "therein the US [Department of] Treasury wants to try and keep control of the sanctions pro- cess by keeping these as executive orders. Once
they get legislated through Congress the impact becomes harsher and harder to lift."
Most recently a "crushing" bipartisan sanctions bill included the "nuclear" option of sanctioning Russian sovereign debt and state banks, which could have devastating effects on both Russia and global financial markets.
The co-head of equities at BCS Global Markets Luis Saenz urged caution in reacting to the bill, arguing that it was still only a draft and pointing out that the US Congress is now on its summer holiday so no work on the bill will happen until at least September.
Another possible scenario is the US Treasury being pressured into repeating the April 6 sanc- tions against cherry picked Kremlin-connected Russian oligarchs, which were the most painful and measures yet (although recent reports indi- cate the Oleg Deripaska's aluminium major Rusal is close to reaching a deal with the Treasury).
In June Vladimir Yevtushenko and his multi-in- dustry investment major AFK Sistema have pre- viously been singled out as next possible target over alleged participation in projects at annexed Crimea peninsula.