Senior U.S. Democrat seeks delay in lifting sanctions on Russian firms

The second-ranking Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Tuesday he would ask the Treasury Department to delay the lifting of sanctions on two companies tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to give Congress time to review the decision. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters he would call Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday and ask him to delay implementation of the decision until Feb. 28. The U.S. Treasury announced on Dec. 20 that it would lift sanctions imposed in April on the core businesses of Deripaska, including aluminum giant Rusal, its parent En+ and power firm EuroSibEnergo, watering down the toughest penalties imposed on Russian entities since Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. Deripaska himself would remain subject to U.S. sanctions.