JRL NEWSWATCH: “U.S. Sanctions Tighten Putin’s Circle, Extend Kremlin’s Reach; Russian businesses cut off from foreign funds turn to state banks” – Wall Street Journal/ Thomas Grove, Alan Cullison
“… Deripaska’s debt shuffle is part of a shift in the Russian economy that accelerated when the West began to impose sanctions … after Moscow annexed the Crimean Peninsula and launched a covert military operation in eastern Ukraine. Though some sanctions were meant to split Russia’s economic elite from the Kremlin, they have pushed sanctioned individuals closer to the Russian government – … [Russia’s] largest creditor …. The Kremlin’s growing [economic] role … is part of a longer-running trend under … Putin, who vastly expanded state ownership of industries in his 20-year reign, and often appointed longtime allies as managers. Many of those now facing sanctions grew rich under his rule. … U.S. sanctions targeted Russian state-run banks, [yet] the government is awash in cash from oil and metals revenues, and the Russian central bank has more than $500 billion – one-third of the country’s GDP – in currency reserves and gold, according to central bank data. …”