Senate OKS lifting of sanctions

Backs Treasury decision involving three Russian firms

WASHINGTON — The Senate upheld a Treasury Department decision to lift sanctions from three companies connected to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

A vote to move forward on a Democratic resolution that would have reversed Treasury’s decision failed Wednesday on a 57-42 vote, just short of the 60 votes needed.

The vote came up short even though several Republicans had criticized the sanctions move and 11 of them voted with Democrats.

At issue is a December announcement from the Treasury Department that the U.S. would lift sanctions on the companies linked to Deripaska — Russian aluminum manufacturing giant Rusal, EN+ Group and the Russian power company JSC Eurosibenergo. EN+ Group is a holding company that owns nearly 50 percent of Rusal.

Congress had 30 days from the announcement to vote to block it, a deadline that expires Friday.

The Treasury Department says the Russian companies have committed to separating from Deripaska, who will remain blacklisted as part of an array of measures announced in early April that targeted tycoons close to the Kremlin.

Treasury maintains that the companies have committed to diminish Deripaska’s ownership and sever his control. In a statement last week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Deripaska remains under sanctions, “his property and interests remain blocked, and any companies he controls are also sanctioned.”

Treasury has warned that the sanctions could upset global aluminum markets or even prompt the Russian government to nationalize the company, thus shutting it out from any outside control.

Mnuchin attended a closed-door GOP lunch Tuesday and urged senators to vote against the Democratic resolution. Speaking after the meeting, he said the sanctions “shouldn’t be a political issue.”

Echoing President Donald Trump, Mnuchin said the administration “has been tougher on Russia with more sanctions than any other administration.”

But Democrats — and almost a dozen Republicans — weren’t convinced. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the agreement didn’t relinquish enough of Deripaska’s control.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-MD., has introduced a resolution to block the Treasury Department’s move. It’s unclear whether the House will vote on it after the Senate blocked it.