financetom
Politics
financetom
/
Politics
/
Wilbur Ross says reports he didn't disclose ties to Putin-linked firm are 'totally wrong'
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Wilbur Ross says reports he didn't disclose ties to Putin-linked firm are 'totally wrong'
Nov 6, 2017 8:01 AM

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said reports that he did not disclose ties to a firm linked with Russian President Vladimir Putin are wrong.

Ross was revealed to have business links to a Russian firm with close ties to Putin during a leak of financial documents at the weekend. The ties were disclosed in the so-called "Paradise Papers," a mass of documents leaked to German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and reported Sunday.

The millions of documents mostly originate from a Bermuda-based legal services provider that works on offshore investments. The files reportedly show that Ross did not disclose an interest in a shipping company called Navigator Holdings, a company that has a business relationship with SIBUR.

Ross, however, has since denied to CNBC that he didn't disclose his Navigator holdings.

"That's totally wrong. It was disclosed on the form 278 which is the financial disclosure form, in my case, three times," Ross said.

In an earlier statement on Monday from the Department of Commerce it was further claimed that the holdings are openly listed in a form on the Office of Government Ethics website.

The commerce secretary added that there was nothing improper about Navigator Holdings relationship with SIBUR.

"A company not under sanction is just like any other company, period. It was a normal commercial relationship and one that I had nothing to do with the creation of, and do not know the shareholders who were apparently sanctioned at some later point in time," Ross told CNBC.

One of SIBUR's owners is Gennady Timchenko, a Russian billionaire who is considered part of Putin's inner circle, according to NBC. Since 2014, Timchenko has been barred by the Treasury Department from entering the United States, according to the news agency.

A second SIBUR owner is another Putin associate, Leonid Mikhelson, whose other company, Novatek, was placed on Treasury sanctions list in 2014, NBC noted. A third shareholder in SIBUR, and its deputy chairman, is Kirill Shamalov, husband of Vladimir Putin's daughter, Katerina Tikhonova.

Ross dismissed any suggestion that he considered resigning from his position as commerce secretary when the news broke Sunday night.

"No, that is a silly question. There is nothing wrong with anything that was done," Ross said.

Responding to the documents, the U.S. Department of Commerce said in an initial statement Sunday that Ross "was not involved with Navigator's decision to engage in business with SIBUR, a publicly-traded company, which was not under sanction at the time and is not currently."

"Moreover, Secretary Ross has never met the Sibur shareholders referenced in this story and, until now, did not know of their relationship," the statement said, adding: "The Secretary recuses himself from matters focused on transoceanic shipping vessels, but has been supportive of the Administration's sanctions against Russian and other entities."

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
News18-Ipsos exit poll tips second term for Narendra Modi, 336 seats for NDA in 2019 Lok Sabha elections
News18-Ipsos exit poll tips second term for Narendra Modi, 336 seats for NDA in 2019 Lok Sabha elections
May 19, 2019
Narendra Modi will score an emphatic win for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) with 336 seats,...
Opposition in 'wait and watch' as they await poll results before making next move
Opposition in 'wait and watch' as they await poll results before making next move
May 22, 2019
Non-NDA parties are in a "wait and watch" mode and their top leaders will be in constant touch with each other to bringing the opposition together, they said.
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Results: Political parties' vigil outside EVM storage rooms
Lok Sabha Elections 2019 Results: Political parties' vigil outside EVM storage rooms
May 22, 2019
All political parties are keeping a round-the-clock vigil on storage rooms where electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been kept. While senior Congress leader and Bhopal candidate Digvijaya Singh was seen surveying storerooms in Bhopal, Raj Babbar monitored EVM security in Agra. Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) 'Mahagathbandhan' workers also guarded EVMs in Meerut.
Election results 2019: OP Rawat says EVMs can't be manipulated
Election results 2019: OP Rawat says EVMs can't be manipulated
May 21, 2019
Ahead of the counting of votes on Thursday for the next Lok Sabha, BJP president Amit Shah hosted a dinner meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday for 36 National Democratic Alliance partners in a show of strength. At the meeting , Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Opposition for levelling allegations of EVM tampering after 22 Opposition parties led by the Congress and TDP's Chandrababu Naidu approached the Election Commission on reports of what they called suspicious EVM movements. The parties also demanded verification of VVPAT slips before the counting of votes and not later. The Election Commission dismissed allegations of EVMs being switched and said the machines used in the Lok Sabha elections were 'absolutely safe' in strongrooms. This blog will keep you posted on the latest updates and developments related to Lok Sabha election results on the eve of counting of votes:
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved