The Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg is in the crosshairs of the US authorities, of which he is the subject of sanctions. The Swiss industrial groups Oerlikon and Sulzer, in which he holds large stakes, ensure that they are not affected.
As part of a fresh salvo of sanctions, Washington took action this weekend once morest other close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, including, in addition to Viktor Vekselberg, the family of the Kremlin spokesman. , Dmitry Peskov, and the Board of Directors of VTB Bank.
On Friday, the US Department of Finance’s Foreign Assets Control Office announced in a statement the confiscation with immediate effect of a plane and a yacht belonging to the Russian billionaire.
According to US authorities, business relationships with companies controlled by Mr. Vekselberg are also likely to be subject to obligations. In Switzerland, the oligarch holds, via various investment vehicles, stakes in the industrial groups Oerlikon and Sulzer, as well as its recent offshoot Medmix, the Lucerne steelmaker Swiss Steel and the Zurich real estate group Züblin.
Asked on Monday by AWP, the management of Sulzer recalled that its reference shareholder had already reduced its majority control to bring it below 50% following being targeted for the first time by American sanctions in 2018. According to the Winterthur company , Mr. Vekselberg cannot sell shares or receive dividends. The extension of the sanctions does not concern the Zurich industrialist.
Oerlikon for its part underlined in a press release that neither the group nor its main shareholder Liwet Holding (41%) – of which the Russian billionaire holds less than 50% – are currently on a list of American sanctions. ‘The latest US sanctions once morest Mr. Viktor Vekselberg do not affect Oerlikon’, assured a spokesperson for the company.
Resident in the canton of Zug, the oligarch found himself in the crosshairs of the American authorities in 2018. The latter had imposed sanctions in April 2018 once morest seven Russian nationals, including Viktor Vekselberg, accusing them of s enriched by the Kremlin’s authoritarian and anti-Western policy.
/ ATS