ArmInfo. Armenian economy could avoid troubles associated with the United Company "Rusal" ( which subsidiary is the Yerevan foil rolling plant of Armenal) being under sanctions.
Today, April 24, the securities of Russian "aluminum" giant, United Company of Rusa,l continued the intensive proce increase. So, since the opening of bids on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the compsany has added 40%. Such rapid growth is connected with yesterday's information, voiced in the United States of America.
Recall that Rusal applied for removing US sanctions. In response, the United States responded fairly unexpectedly with a basic agreement, within one primary condition. This condition is that Oleg Deripaska must give up his control over the company. On the eve the OFAC (the structure of the US Ministry of Finance, responsible for enforcement in the field of sanctions) issued a license under which operations with Rusalshould be completed before October 23 this year. Previously, the deadline for completion or cancellation of transactions was June 5. According to Stephen Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary , Rusal has been subjected to sanctions because of Deripaska, and the US government was not going to harm people working for the company. "
While there is no information on whether Deripaska is going to accept Washington's terms and give up the control of Rusal, the Russian economic leadership is working on a project to nationalize those main companies that have been included in the sanctions lists because of the persons controlling their assets. First of all, it is due to Rusal.
The OFAC decision is of great importance for Armenia, where one of the largest enterprises of the joint company mentioned, the Armenal Foil Rolling Plant, operates. Rusal-Armenal provides 70% of all Armenian exports to the United States in monetary terms. In the United States, almost 50% of the foil produced in the "Armenal" is exported in physical terms. According to the Armenian National Statistics Service, in 2017 Armenal produced 33 thousand tons of foil, almost all this volume is exported to various foreign markets. About 700 persons are employed at the plant, having a pretty big meaning for the small-scale economy of Armenia.