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En+ says proceeds in engagement with OFAC for Barker Plan implementation

The plan implies that independent members are appointed to the board and Deripaska’s share in the group is reduced

© REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. En+ Group owned by the Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska who is currently under the US sanctions, proceeds in its engagement with OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Department of the Treasury that administers and enforces sanctions) aiming at fully implementing the plan to remove the company and its subsidiaries from the restrictions, the company said in a statement on Monday.

"The company proceeds in its engagement with OFAC and other relevant counterparties with the aim of fully implementing the Barker Plan, with the ultimate goal of protecting the interests of all group stakeholders, investors and employees of the group worldwide," the statement said.

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The plan proposed by En+ Board Chairman Lord Gregory Barker and approved by the board of directors, implies that independent members are appointed to the board and Deripaska’s share in the group is reduced.

The US Treasury slapped sanctions against a number of Russian officials, businessmen and companies on April 6. Among them were several enterprises belonging to Oleg Deripaska. The restrictions imply that the US assets of those companies are frozen. They also ban American citizens from doing any business with the companies.

On September 22, the US extended the expiration date of certain general licenses related to En+ Group, Rusal and EuroSibEnergo until November 12. Previously, the deadline was set for October 23.

"Although there is a lot of work to do, the granted short extension to our current licenses is intended to allow additional time for OFAC to review the proposed changes," Barker was quoted as saying.

En+ is an integrated producer of aluminum and electric power. Its power plants have an aggregated output of 19.7 gigawatts, while the capacity of aluminum factories (owned through a controlling stake in Rusal) stands at 3.9 mln tonnes per year.

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