U.S. Commerce Chief Says He Is Likely to Divest Russia-Linked Shipping Stake

[DonViejo]

Source: New York Times




By REUTERSNOV. 6, 2017, 6:03 P.M. E.S.T.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Monday he probably would not keep his holdings in a shipping company with business ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and that he had fully and properly disclosed investments.

Pressed on whether he would retain the interest in Navigator Holdings, Ross told Bloomberg Television: "I've been actually selling it anyway, but that isn't because of this." Ross, a billionaire investor who is helping to shape Republican President Donald Trump's trade policy, was criticized when several media outlets reported that he had failed to disclose that one of Navigator's clients is Russian gas and petrochemical company Sibur.

Sibur's owners include Putin's son-in-law, Kirill Shamalov, and Gennady Timchenko, a Putin associate who is subject to U.S. Treasury sanctions.

The information is based on leaked documents from offshore law firm Appleby that are part of the so-called Paradise Papers, which show details of business dealings by wealthy people and institutions ranging from Ross to Britain's Queen Elizabeth and trading firm Glencore. They were obtained by Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper and shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and some media outlets and published on Sunday.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/11/06/business/06reuters-paradise-tax-usa.html?_r=0

[vlyons]

1. likely?

Is likely the same as maybe? or probably? It's not the same as "definitely" or "done already."

[rzemanfl]

2. Drumpf Administration, home of the endless cup of do-overs. n/t

[Zorro]

8. The Mulligan Administration

[BumRushDaShow]

3. ALL of them claimed they would eventually "divest"

.... when they got around to it.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Translation: I'm sorry I got caught.

Almost pulled it off too.

[Twitler]

5. Bingo

He is only going to dump it due to getting caught, and he most likely started dumping it once he realized the conspiracy did not work and that the sanctions will never be lifted while Putin is in power.

[riversedge]

6. yup

[Twitler]

7. It is obvious to everybody except Trumpians

That Trump intentionally hired and appointed people that would gain financially from having the sanctions removed. The funniest tin-foil hat part is that Kushner has such deep ties to Russia, it is as if his wedding to Ivanka was part of the plot.

[Calista241]

9. He didn't really get "caught"

He noted the investment in his financial disclosures, and he says that retaining those investments was approved by the OGE. It's getting talked about now because nobody thought to ask him questions about this one in his confirmation hearing.