Two Congressional Democrats have reportedly raised concerns about whether Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's ties to a major shareholder in Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s companies played a role in the decision to lift sanctions. According to The New York Times, Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) both sent letters to Mnuchin on Tuesday about his connection to Len Blavatnik—an entertainment industry figure who also is a “major investor” in one of Deripaska’s companies, Rusal. Blavatnik and Mnuchin are reportedly connected through a 2017 acquisition between Blavatnik’s Access Industries and a company that had a deal involving Dune Entertainment—where Mnuchin served as chairman joining the Trump administration. Blavatnik reportedly founded SUAL Partners Limited with Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, which is a major shareholder in Rusal.
Once U.S. sanctions against Deripaska’s companies were lifted, SUAL’s holdings in Rusal reportedly saw an $800 million value raise compared to last year’s numbers. Tony Sayegh, the Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for public affairs, told the Times Mnuchin had “no business relationship” and a conflict of interest assertion was “absurd.” Sayegh also said that Mnuchin and Blavatnik only knew each other “personally” through Blavatnik’s GOP donor activity while Mnuchin served in the Trump campaign.
Read it at New York Times
