ArmInfo. The saga about the possibility of returning the products of the Yerevan plant "Armenal" to the American market continues.
According to the Prime economic agency, yesterday US Secretary of the Treasury Stephen Mnuchin after meeting with congressmen confirmed the intention of his ministry to lift sanctions on En +, Rusal and Eurosibenergo companies. "En +", "Rusal" and "Eurosibenergo" came under sanctions only because they were controlled and managed by Oleg Deripaska. These enterprises are undergoing significant changes in restructuring and management, which takes them out of control of Deripaska and significantly reduces his share, " Mnuchin's statement issued by the press service reads. According to him, En +, Rusal and Eurosibenergo committed themselves to giving the Finance Ministry an unprecedented level of transparency in their work to ensure that Deripaska lost control of them. "Because of these actions, these enterprises are freed from the sanction," he added.
"The Ministry of Finance will be vigilant in monitoring the fulfillment by En + and Rusal of its obligations. If these companies do not fulfill the conditions, they will face very real and immediate consequences, including a revision of sanctions," Mnuchin warned. He also expressed his willingness to continue working with the Congress on this issue.
On December 19, the US Treasury Department announced that it intends to exclude En, Rusal, and EuroSibenergo, controlled by Oleg Deripaska, from the sanctioned list in 30 days, since the businessman will reduce his share in them. After that, the chairmen of the seven committees of the US House of Representatives sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance, where they urged En +, Rusal and Eurosibenergo to lift sanctions from Oleg Deripaska's companies until they received answers to their questions. However, the determination of the US Treasury to lift the sanctions will allow the Yerevan-based Armenal plant, part of the UC Rusal structure, to return to the US market. Armenal is the largest exporter of finished products not only in the USA, but also in the countries of the European Union. According to the RA Statistics Service, in Armenia the release of aluminum foil in January-November 2018 in comparison with the same period of the previous year, decreased by 12% - to 26,714 tons. According to statistics, in November alone, the production of aluminum foil decreased by 9.7% to 2004 tons.