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Bloomberg
The Kremlin cheered what it said was a relaxation of a ban on sanctioned Russian businessmen by organisers of the World Economic Forum, signalling the move would ease the path for
a delegation to attend the January event.
“We welcome the fact that the Davos economic forum and its management heard our position that it’s unacceptable to have a selective relationship with our businessmen,†Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We can easily compensate for contacts with American businessmen with businessmen from other countries.â€
Sanctioned businessmen Viktor Vekselberg, Oleg Deripaska and VTB Group CEO Andrey Kostin plan to attend the forum in Switzerland, while the government’s delegation will be chosen
by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev Tass reported, citing Economy Minister Maxim Oreshkin. Oreshkin said he would be in Davos during the conference for a World Trade Organization ministerial meeting, according to Tass.
While there’s no outright ban on people affected by US sanctions in April, the forum’s policy is that “any engagement with those affected would be in compliance and subject to the conditions communicated by our legal advisers,†a WEF spokesman said.
The three sanctioned tycoons will be allowed to attend the annual forum as long as they avoid events with US citizens and anything American-owned, including email servers and cloud services, The Bell online news site reported, citing two people familiar with the conditions that it didn’t identify.
The restrictions on sanctioned businessmen had thrown Russia’s traditionally large delegation at the gathering of the global elite at the Swiss ski resort into question. Medvedev threatened a Russian boycott after reports of a ban surfaced last month.
Vekselberg and Deripaska, both of whom were regulars at Davos before they were sanctioned in April, didn’t intend to participate in official meetings at the forum and this hasn’t changed, two people familiar with their plans said. They may visit the resort during the event.