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Rusal shares surge after US lifts sanctions against firms linked to Russian billionaire Deripaska

Shares of Russian aluminum giant Rusal surged nearly eight percent on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, after the US formally lifted sanctions against the company and two other firms linked to Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska.

The Trump administration removed punitive measures against the world’s second largest aluminum producer, Rusal, its parent, En+ Group Plc, and power firm EuroSibEnergo (ESE), late on Sunday. The three firms were slapped with sanctions by Washington in April last year alongside many Russian businessmen and officials.

In a press release, the US Treasury said the three companies managed to meet the necessary conditions of reducing the “direct and indirect shareholding stake” and severing the control of Russian aluminum and energy tycoon Oleg Deripaska. However, the sanctions against the businessman himself remain in force.

After Deripaska significantly cut his stake in the companies, the Trump administration revealed its plans to abandon the measures in December. The Russian tycoon now owns less than 45 percent in EN+ from an earlier stake of approximately 70 percent.

European envoys to the US earlier supported Washington’s plans to lift the sanctions against the three Russian companies, saying it would save thousands of jobs and prevent “serious damage to the European aluminum industry.”

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