WASHINGTON/NEW YORK: Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska sued the United States on Friday, alleging that it had overstepped its legal bounds in imposing sanctions on his companies and made him the"latest victim" in the U.S. probe into Moscow's alleged political interference.
Washington dropped the sanctions on Rusal and En+ in January after an intense lobbying campaign in which Deripaska agreed to sell down his stake in En+, relinquishing control over his corporate empire in a bid to stave off its ruin. The sanctions on Deripaska himself remain in force. The assets that form the core of Deripaska's fortune were acquired during the chaotic sell-off of state-owned mines and factories in the 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union.In the lawsuit Deripaska said his net worth had fallen by more than US$7.5 billion, or about 81 percent, since the sanctions were imposed.