MOSCOW, September 17. /TASS/. Businessman Oleg Deripaska filed a lawsuit in the Arbitration Court of Russia’s Krasnodar region against The Nation, The Telegraph and The Times newspapers due to the fact that the articles in these publications had triggered personal sanctions against him in 2018, the businessman’s official representative told TASS.

"In March 2019, Oleg Deripaska filed a lawsuit against the US Treasury Department, in which he disputes the personal sanctions imposed on him. In fact, to justify the sanctions, the Treasury Department refers only to three newspaper articles that were published in foreign media more than 10 years ago. Under the guise of proved facts, these articles present unfounded accusations against Deripaska made by his competitors, as well as rumors and speculations. These charges have never been confirmed in court and bear no relation to reality," the representative said.

The lawsuit against publications was filed in the arbitration of the Krasnodar region.

"The current procedural law secures the right of a Russian citizen to protect his business reputation in a legal dispute with foreign media in a Russian court at his place of residence," the representative of Deripaska explained.

The lawsuit against the publishing houses of Times Newspapers Limited, The Nation Company LLC and Telegraph Media Group Limited was registered in the Krasnodar court on September 13.

In March 2019, Deripaska filed a lawsuit with the US Treasury in the federal court of Washington. He called sanctions introduced against him in April 2018 as unfair and illegal and notes that his wealth contracted by more than $7.5 bln due to sanctions in the complaint.

The US Treasury Department introduced sanctions against Oleg Deripaska and companies controlled by him on April 6, 2018. Sanctions covered Rusal, Basic Element, En+, Russian Machines, EuroSibEnergo, GAZ Group, B-Finance and Kuban agricultural holding.

On January 27, Washington time (January 28 Moscow time), the US Department of Treasury announced the removal of sanctions against Rusal, En + and EuroSibEnergo. However it cost Deripaska control in his enterprises: in particular, his share in the En+ holding decreased from 70% to 44.95%, while in Rusal he directly owns only 0.01% of shares and is not entitled to receive dividends. The restrictions against the co-owner of those companies, Oleg Deripaska, remain in force.