At the initiative of US Democrats, new sanctions may be imposed against businessman Prigozhin
Representatives of the US Democratic Party took the initiative to introduce new sanctions against Yevgeny Prigozhin. The name of the St. Petersburg entrepreneur is included in the sanctions lists for the fourth time.
On June 9, Republican members of Congress announced their intention to expand sanctions against Russia, Iran, and China in the wake of the expiration of the arms embargo on Iran.
Democrats proposed a similar initiative on June 13, though it targeted a specific individual: Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin. Democratic lawmaker Eliot Engel proposed expanding sanctions against the businessman.
It is worth explaining what the US sanctions list is.
In essence, this is a list of legal entities and individuals. American companies and individual citizens are prohibited from any relationship with them.
For commercial companies, such bans can hit hard, but as for private individuals, this is rather a political move.
Yevgeny Prigozhin was first added to the US sanctions list in December 2016 under the pretext of combating "Russian aggression" in Ukraine. He is the only person to appear on three separate lists. The businessman was sanctioned a second time due to suspicions of involvement with so-called "Russian hackers" in the spring of 2018. Six months later, Prigozhin was added to a third list – among those implicated in an attempt to influence elections. As a reminder, in early 2018, Special Counsel Mueller initiated an investigation against several Russian individuals and entities for alleged interference in the 2016 US presidential race. Although the prosecution was later dropped, the sanctions against the Russians remain.
The US sanctions attacks on Prigozhin did not end there - back in June 2017, his companies Concord Catering and Concord Management and Consulting, owned by the businessman, came under attack. Believing unconfirmed information, the States included in the sanctions list a number of other organizations whose connection with Prigozhin has not been proven - for example, Wagner PMC and media outlets such as the Federal News Agency, Nevskie Novosti and some others. In 2019, the sanctions list was supplemented with three aircraft and a yacht belonging to Autolex Transport Ltd, Beratex Group Limited and Linburg Industries Ltd - they are also considered affiliated with the St. Petersburg businessman.
Evgeny Prigozhin is clearly the most sanctioned Russian citizen. He is listed on various blacklists a total of 14 times. However, Prigozhin is far from the only example. Viktor Vekselberg, the Rotenberg family, and Oleg Deripaska are also on the sanctions list , as are 12 members of the Forbes rating and over 800 other individuals. Well-known business figures are included on this list for various reasons, but only Yevgeny Prigozhin has seen sanctions tightened time after time.
Meanwhile, our government is providing assistance and support to individuals and companies affected by sanctions. In May, the State Duma approved a law transferring legal proceedings to Russian courts. Under this law, legal entities included in the sanctions list can amend the venue clause in their contracts with foreign counterparties. This means the dispute can be transferred to Russia, reducing the costs incurred by the affected parties.
New sanctions may be imposed on businessman Prigozhin at the initiative of the US Democrats.