Australia sanctions Russian businessmen Vekselberg, Deripaska, 11 banks, agencies

Baku, March 18, AZERTAC

The Australian government imposed sanctions on Renova owner Viktor Vekselberg and businessman Oleg Deripaska (EN+ Group), who have links to business interests in Australia, and on 11 Russian banks, Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement on Friday, TASS reports.

"The Australian government has placed sanctions on 11 additional Russian banks and government entities," meaning that all of the entities that handle Russia’s sovereign debt are now covered by sanctions, the statement said.

"We are also continuing to increase sanctions pressure on the oligarchs close to Vladimir Putin," it said. "Australia has now added two billionaires with links to business interests in Australia, Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg" to the list of people subject to targeted financial sanctions and travel bans, according to the statement.

Payne said the new listing includes the Russian National Wealth Fund, the Russian Ministry of Finance and banks that together account for approximately 80% of all banking assets in Russia. The banks include Sberbank, Gazprombank, VEB, VTB, Rosselkhozbank, Sovcombank, Novikombank, Alfa-Bank and Credit Bank of Moscow, she said.