Russian oligarch to quit roles at biggest companies

Billionaire with controlling stakes in energy and aluminium giants is on White House ‘Kremlin list’

OLIGARCH Oleg Deripaska will step down as president of the EN+ energy company and aluminium giant Rusal, it was reported yesterday.

Mr Deripaska, whose 2008 meetings with Lord Mandelson and George Osborne on his yacht in Corfu caused controversy in the UK, owns controlling stakes in both companies.

This month, MI6 said intelligence services should have been consulted before EN+ was allowed to go ahead with a London Stock Exchange offering that brought in an estimated £1billion in November.

Kommersant newspaper reported claims by sources in Mr Deripaska’s companies that he was leaving the top posts due to his inclusion last month in the “Kremlin list” of Russian oligarchs, which the Trump administration issued under US sanctions legislation.

But the list’s impact has been called into doubt since it named all Russians with a net worth of at least $1billion (£714 million).

A source in the company said the tycoon simply wanted to focus on developing his automobile concern GAZ and its partnership with German carmaker Volkswagen.

EN+ and Rusal, the world’s second largest aluminium producer, had not responded to requests for comment yesterday.

The news that the metals tycoon would step down follows the start of another “corporate war” over leading metals producer Norilsk Nickel between Mr Deripaska and Vladimir Potanin, who is one of the richest men in Russia with an estimated net worth of £11.5billion.

Last week, Rusal appealed to a London court to stop Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich from selling his 6 per cent stake in Norilsk Nickel to a company owned by Mr Potanin.

Mr Deripaska’s ties to former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort, whom he had previously hired as a consultant, have come under scrutiny. In addition, Republican senator Charles Grassley last week sent a letter asking whether the oligarch had ever employed former British spy Christopher Steele, the author of a controversial dossier claiming Russia had compromising material on Mr Trump.

This month, opposition leader Alexei Navalny discovered recordings allegedly showing that Mr Deripaska had discussed US relations with deputy prime minister Sergei Prikhodko on a yacht trip. According to records found by Mr Navalny, the trip took place the month after Mr Manafort reportedly offered the oligarch private briefings on the Trump campaign.

A spokesman for Mr Deripaska said these were “outrageous false accusations,” and Mr Prikhodko called Mr Navalny’s investigation a “provocation”.