Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg said, in an interview with a US newspaper out Monday, he was blindsided by surprise US sanctions last year, which barred him from seeing his family
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd June, 2019) Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg said, in an interview with a US newspaper out Monday, he was blindsided by surprise US sanctions last year, which barred him from seeing his family.The 62-year-old owner of Russian conglomerate Renova was blacklisted in April 2018 for his alleged role in Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.
"My whole life I have tried to be an international person... I brought my entire family to the US... I would never have predicted... the situation that I am now in... This is a total crisis of my life," he told the Financial Times.
The sanctions ban US companies from doing business with Vekselberg but can also be extended to third parties, virtually cutting him off from western financial markets.
But the aluminum tycoon, who is worth over $11 billion according to Forbes, said this was "not about money" but a "personal situation."
Experts who spoke to the newspaper said his inclusion in the blacklist alongside other oligarchs who are allegedly close to Russian President Vladimir Putin came as a surprise.
"I am Russian. I am rich. And yes, I know Putin. Today, it is enough," Vekselberg argued.
The businessman attended US President Donald Trump's inauguration in 2016 after his American cousin arranged to pay for the tickets through Trump's then lawyer Michael Cohen as foreign nationals cannot buy them directly.
Vekselberg's short meeting with Cohen led to a swirl of rumors amid what trump called a witch hunt for his Russian connections.
