U.S. Extends Deadline for Deripaska Talks Over Rusal Sanctions

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury again extended the deadline for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska to give up control of the world’s second-largest aluminum producer, United Co. Rusal, before U.S. sanctions kick in.

Treasury said in a statement that licenses allowing Rusal to continue doing business would be extended to Jan. 7, 2019 from Dec. 12. U.S. officials have been in talks with negotiators about lifting sanctions on En+ Group Plc, the company that holds Deripaska’s stake in Rusal, and GAZ Group. They have extended the deadline multiple times.

“EN+, Rusal, and GAZ are proposing substantial corporate governance changes that could potentially result in significant changes in control of these sanctioned entities,” an unidentified Treasury spokesperson said in the statement on Friday.

Without the extension, the impact on the aluminum industry was set to intensify in the coming weeks as counterparties such as consumers and banks start to wind down their dealings with Rusal in anticipation of the sanctions deadline.

To contact the reporter on this story: Saleha Mohsin in Washington at smohsin2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Joshua Gallu, Bill Faries

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