American sanctions force Russian tycoon Deripaska to give up 3 private planes
After the introduction of the U.S. package of sanctions, Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska had to give up three private Gulfstream G550 aircraft, which he had rented from Credit Suisse and Raiffeisen, Reuters reported.
According to Alireza Ittihadieh, director of the company Freestream, which the owners of the planes contracted to sell them, the oligarch had leased them from a private company.
“He’s sanctioned, his companies are sanctioned, he has to return the aircraft. He has to terminate the leases early, under sanctions rules,” he said.
The Director of Freestream noted that the bank does not need these assets.
“Banks take assets. Once the lease return takes place, they either sell it or they re-lease it. And in this case they have five-year old assets and they have chosen to sell them.”
The starting price of two of the aircraft, produced in 2012, is $29.95 million. The price of the third, built in 2005, is unknown.
Due to U.S. sanctions, Deripaska’s company, Rusal, was on the verge of default. Later, for the sake of easing the sanctions against En + Group, Deripaska agreed to reduce his stake in it to less than 50% and leave the board of directors.