VTB Bank signed at ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Center, St.Petersburg International Economic Forum, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Sefa Karacan | Anadolu Agency | beautiful pictures
VTB Bank has lost top US lobbyists after President Joe Biden’s latest round of sanctions against the Russian financial giant.
Sidley Austin, one of the most powerful lobbying firms in Washington DC, told CNBC on Friday that it no longer represents the bank after selecting the bank as a client in 2015. was sanctioned by the Biden Treasury Department following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. week.
“VTB Group is no longer a client of Sidley Austin LLP subject to US sanctions,” a spokesperson said in an email. The company continues to represent it to the US government after it was initially sanctioned in 2014 following Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea, an area of Ukraine.
Sidley Austin’s loss of representation signals the loss of a powerful VTB ally in Washington that could have lobbied the US government for the company following the latest sanctions. Forbes says the bank’s market capitalization as of last year was more than $8 billion.
The most recent US sanctions also target executives with ties to VTB, including senior officials Andrey Sergeyevich Puchkov and Yuriy Alekseyevich Soloviev, according to the Finance Ministry.
Former Integrity Center report that Sidley Austin’s lobbying team was joined by people in the U.S. State Department and members of Congress when they initially represented the bank.
A representative for VTB Bank could not be reached for comment as the bank’s website failed to load when attempting to contact the company.
VTB responded to the US sanctions in a statement on Thursday.
“VTB is one of the backbone banks of the Russian Federation with a wide international presence and stable financial position. Sanctions have been a reality for us for the past few years, and a wave of Other politically motivated anti-Russian sanctions are also not surprising,” a representative said at the time.
“VTB has been and remains a trusted partner of millions of customers, investors and shareholders,” the statement read.
