SENATE VOTES TO ALLOW REMOVAL OF SANCTIONS AGAINST DERIPASKA COMPANIES

The Republicans in the US Senate who support the Treasury Department's move to remove OFAC sanctions from Russian corporations controlled by OFAC-sanctioned Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska succeeded today in voting against a motion to lift those sanctions. The motion required 60 votes in the Senate, and the movants fell short in reaching that number.

Democrats in the Senate, as well as eleven Republicans, dissatisfied with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin's assurances that reducing Deripaska's holdings to 45% would cause him to lose control, voted to lift the sanctions, but the affirmative vote on the motion were insufficient to move the motion to a floor vote.