WASHINGTON, April 6. /TASS/. The United States’ new anti-Russian sanctions cover those biggest Russian businesses that refuse to play to Washington’s scenario, the Russian embassy in the United States said in a statement on Friday.
"Washington has delivered yet another blow on the Russian-US relations. Now, the sanctions cover captains of Russian business who refuse to play to Washington’s scenario," the embassy said.
The US sanctions are seen as an erroneous step killing the freedom of enterprise and competition and impairing integration processes in the global economy, according to the embassy.
"The United States has made yet another erroneous step to destroy the freedom of enterprise and competition, to impair integration processes in the global economy," the embassy said.
The United States introduced sanctions on Friday against seven Russian businessmen, twelve companies under their control and 17 officials, a senior government official told reporters.
The US Treasury Department blacklisted businessmen Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Bogdanov, Suleiman Kerimov, Igor Rotenberg, Kirill Shamalov, Andrei Skoch and Viktor Vekselberg. Restrictions were imposed on Agroholding Kuban, Basic Element Limited, B-Finance, En+ Group, GAZ Group, Gazprom Burenie, Eurosibenergo, Ladoga Management, NPV Engineering, Renova Group, Rosoboronexport, Russian Financial Corporation, Russian Machines, and Rusal.
The US authorities have also put on the sanction list a number of Russian officials, including Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, chairman of the Federation Council’s international affairs committee Konstantin Kosachyov, and head of the federal communications watchdog Roskomnadzor, Aleksander Zharov, as follows from a news release by the US Department of the Treasury.
On the list there are also the director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Mikhail Fradkov, Tula Region’s Governor, Aleksei Dyumin, presidential aide Yevgeny Shkolov, presidential representative in the Southern Federal District Vladimir Ustinov, chief of the Interior Ministry’s department for resistance to extremism Timur Valiulin, Bank of Russia deputy governor, Aleksander Torshin, Russian Guard chief Viktor Zolotov, State Duma Speaker Vladislav Reznik, and chief of the presidential office for socio-economic cooperation with the CIS countries, the republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia Oleg Govorun.
The assets of all 24 people from Russia and 15 various organizations that fall under the US sanctions and under US jurisdiction have been blocked, and American entities are banned from dealing with them, according to the US Treasury Department.