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become an investors’ darling and Russia’s top “tourist stock” – if you are going to buy one Russian stock, because you to track the MSCI Russia or EM index and have to have some exposure, then Sber- bank is the name you buy. Gref has won wide praise for taking the retail banking monster in hand and turning it into not only the best bank in Russia but one of the most dynamic banks in Europe.
On the other hand Sechin is about as much of a stoligarch as it is possible to be. Sechin is widely considered the third most powerful man in Russia and is clear- ly above the law. In the recent corrup- tion trial of Economics Minister Alexey Ulyukayev, Sechin ignored multiple court orders to show and testify as a witness,
as it was Sechin that handed Ulyukayev a bag of money. Sechin simply said he was “too busy” to come to court.
The list also has the names of 114 senior politicians and members of the Russian leadership. All of the presidential admin- istration, the cabinet, a number of presi- dential advisers and the Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev are also included in the list. This list was also apparently cribbed, this time from the English-language ver- sion of the government’s website.
Among them are First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Deputy Prime Ministers Sergey Prikhodko, Alexan- der Khloponin, Vitaly Mutko, Arkady Dvorkovich, Olga Golodets, Dmitry Kozak and Dmitry Rogozin, and another 22 ministers, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, Tass reports.
Presidential Administration Chief Anton Vaino and Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov were also included on the list.
The report was mandated by the Congress under the new round of sanctions sighed off on in August 2017. As reported by bne IntelliNews, the imminent publication of the list put Russia’s elite in a frenzy.
After the sanctions list update on Janu- ary 26 the US Treasury is taking a pause, possibly to bring the more damaging information out closer to the presiden- tial election set for March 2018.
Heather Nauert, the state department spokesperson, said the Donald Trump administration had notified Congress on January 29 the legislation in place was already helping to limit Russian defence sales and there was no need at the present time to impose further sanctions under the CAATSA regime (Countering Adversaries Through Sanctions Act). There are much more damaging sanctions that could wreck Russia’s ability to do business in the US and badly damage it in Europe if adopted in their entirety.
“This is not a sanctions list,” the Treasury Department stressed. “No restrictions are slapped on the individu- als on the list. The inclusion of these individuals on the list does not create any obstacles for business contacts of US citizens provided that they are not subject to sanctions.”
While the oligarchs have not been sanc- tioned as part of the Kremlin report the
State Department went out of its way to emphasise Russia’s defence sector may be targeted.
New sanctions against Russia, if they are introduced, will affect the partners of the Russian defence industry complex and its intelligence services,
a representative of the US Department of State told a TASS correspondent.
"Starting today, the State Department can begin imposing sanctions under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act,
or CAATSA, for significant transactions with the Russian defence or intelligence sector," the representative said. "When and if we have sanctions to announce, we will do so. Generally speaking, should sanctions be imposed, they would primarily be on non-Russian enti- ties that are responsible for significant transactions with Russia’s defence and intelligence sector," the official said.
Four out of eight candidates
in Russia’s presidential elections lied about their income
bne intellinews
Four out of eight candidates registered in Russia’s presidential elections next month are believed to have misreported their income to election officials, reports the Moscow Times.
Candidates are required to report the amount and sources of their and their spouses’ incomes dating back six years, according to a list of registration documents approved by Russia’s Central Elections Commission (CEC) last fall.
“We have four candidates with unreliable income data. They have all been made aware of that,” Ella Pamfilova, the head of Russia's CEC, said in comments carried by Interfax.
Pamfilova promised to inform the public of the discrepancies between the four unnamed candidates’ declared and real incomes on campaign posters.
Documents detailing the discrepancies published by the CEC suggest the four candidates found to have additional income include Sergei Baburin, Pavel Grudinin, Ksenia Sobchak and Boris Titov.
President Vladimir Putin, the presumed winner of the March 18 vote, was earlier reported to have doubled his official income between 2012 and 2018.
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