The company that Moscow Mitch McConnell helped lift sanctions on and is dumping millions of dollars into Kentucky is now involved in a potential deal between a Kremlin-controlled bank and Chinese government.
The Russian bank, VTB, is looking for Chinese investment in an aluminum and energy group (called EN+) that in turn controls Russia's mega-conglomerate aluminum producer Rusal. That's the company that is investing more than $200 million in an aluminum mill in Kentucky. Rusal was previously under the control of the sanctioned oligarch and 2016 election interferer Oleg Deripaska, a buddy of former Trump campaign manager and convicted felon Paul Manafort. Deripaska now owns less than half of Rusal and 35% of the voting rights, at least on paper. Whether he really has no say over that other chunk of voting power has to be in question. Because it's Russia.
Deripaska allegedly stepping back was demanded by the U.S. Treasury Department in return for lifting sanctions. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pushed the Senate to allow it so that the mega-conglomerate, supposedly no longer controlled by Deripaska, could do things like pump $200 million into Moscow Mitch's home state of Kentucky. But it must be noted that Rusal's parent company, EN+, is also partly owned by VTB bank, which Vladimir Putin ultimately controls.
Now the whole shebang could also be partially owned by two Chinese state-related industrial groups, which means a good-sized share of the economy of Kentucky could be owned by China and Russia. A person close to EN+ told the Financial Times that none of this is probably going to bother the Office of Foreign Asset Control, the U.S. Treasury office in charge of overseeing sanctions. "All they care about are [sanctioned individuals]." Again, they’re pretending that sanctioned individual Deripaska doesn't control anything. "The US Treasury won't exactly be doing cartwheels over Chinese buyers but a more diverse shareholder base will be seen as a good thing. The more dispersed the better," says this same person close to EN+.
So Chinese state-related industrial groups, a Kremlin-controlled bank, and a Russian oligarch sanctioned for interfering in the 2016 election who is "not" in control of Rusal (which McConnell made sure was freed from sanctions), will all have their fingers in the Kentucky pot. But it's not really about an aluminum plant in Kentucky—the Russians and the Chinese don't need Kentucky. They need the Senate Majority Leader.
The investment is not in Kentucky, it's in Moscow Mitch. It's paying off so far: There are still no elections security bills scheduled for votes on the Senate floor.
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