FT pointed out oddities and gaps in the US sanctions regime against Russia

The Financial Times has identified several reasons for the selectivity of US sanctions against billionaires from Russia. One of them, according to the publication, is that Washington took into account the unsuccessful experience of restrictions against UC Rusal and En + in 2018 and is now cautious about sanctions that could harm the US economy.

The FT points to some gaps in the US sanctions regime. For example, the richest man in Russia, Vladimir Potanin, was not subject to US sanctions, despite his proximity to the Kremlin. this week This allowed him to buy Rosbank from Societe Generale . The publication also notes that the European Union and Great Britain imposed sanctions against Alexei Mordashov, Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and Roman Abramovich, but the United States did not. Leonid Mikhelson has so far avoided both American and European sanctions. Alisher Usmanov was on the US sanctions list, but his company was not. In the case of Phosagro, Washington did not impose sanctions either on the company itself or on its owners.

The publication names two main reasons for such selectivity of the United States:

• First, the latest rounds of US sanctions target people who play a significant role in the Russian economy more than businessmen with close ties to the Kremlin.
• Second, Washington drew conclusions from the bad experience of sanctions against UC Rusal and En + in 2018, when restrictions against Oleg Deripaska's companies led to a sharp increase in aluminum prices. FT sources say that the situation was carefully analyzed and now the US is more cautious about sanctions that could harm the country's economy.

The European sanctions regime is also inconsistent, the newspaper notes. Restrictions became the subject of trade and exchange. For example, sanctions are targeted at management, not owners, and this limits their backlash.

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