Deripaska Gas group asked ₽30 billion of state support due to sanctions

The GAZ group of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska asked the state thirty billion rubles of financial assistance. This was reported by the newspaper "Kommersant", which gained access to the letter of the General Director of the group Vadim Sorokin.

The letter addressed to the government claims that the auto -building is facing default after the introduction of American sanctions against him. The restrictions that should be introduced on July 8 would close gas to the US financial market. In this regard, production at the company's factories may fall by 40 percent in the second half of 2019, the director of the group indicates.

The state support is needed for the payment of recently taken loans in the amount of twenty billion rubles, added to Deripaska. Due to the threat of sanctions, Gaza allegedly had to spend a profit on increasing working capital. In the apparatus of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, it was said that they received the letter, but so far they have not made a decision on it.

At the same time, Kommersant writes that for the withdrawal of the GAZ group from the sanctions, the possibility of buying shares of the company Volkswagen automaker, but he did not express interest in this. Another option - the nationalization of the company - is not discussed by the government, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said on April 17. At the same time, Oleg Deripaska himself also opposed this idea.

• GAZ group is one of the largest Russian automakers with headquarters in Nizhny Novgorod. About 40 thousand people work at the company's enterprises. Its owner Oleg Deripaska fell under American sanctions at the end of 2018.
• The restrictions initially affected the Rusal and En+firms, in which the Russian oligarch had a control package. The US Department of Finance canceled sanctions in their regard when Deripaska sold part of the shares in firms. Similar restrictions on the GAZ group have been postponed until July 2019. They can be canceled in case of reducing the share of Deripaska shares in the company.
• On April 17, Oleg Deripaska made a proposal to pay 600 thousand dollars to a journalist who is investigating the reasons for his fall on the US sanctions list.