The U.S. Treasury Department has granted investors in the sanctioned Russian firm En+ Group and its subsidiary EuroSibEnergo a reprieve from an impending June 5 deadline, saying they have until October 23 to divest their holdings.
Even as the Treasury moved to ease the deadline late on June 4, En+ Group announced it was accepting the resignation of the company's president as part of a plan to persuade the United States to lift sanctions by filling its board of directors with people who are not affiliated with Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska.
The Treasury had indicated last month that Deripaska companies that separate themselves from the Kremlin-linked billionaire can escape the sanctions, which were aimed at wealthy and powerful people who benefit from their links to the Russian government.
The United States in April imposed sanctions on Deripaska and eight companies in which he is a large shareholder, including the world's second-largest aluminum producer, Rusal, and its parent holding company, En+.
Deripaska controls 66 percent of En+, an umbrella company that manages his aluminum and hydropower businesses. En+ in turn controls 48 percent of Rusal, Deripaska's biggest asset.
The U.S. Treasury had earlier extended until October 23 the sanctions compliance deadline for people invested in Rusal and Russian car maker GAZ, another Deripaska-owned firm.
