REUTERS
Today, the State Duma will consider a package of bills on retaliatory measures to U.S. sanctions.
Russia's State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin says more than 400 legal entities and over 200 citizens of the Russian Federation have already been slapped with U.S. sanctions.
"U.S. sanctions are absolutely unfriendly. More than 400 legal entities and about 200 citizens of our country have already been sanctioned. Of course, we must do our best to protect the interests of our state," the Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted Volodin as saying.
On May 15, the State Duma will consider a package of bills on retaliatory measures to U.S. sanctions, as well as sanctions imposed by other countries against Russia.
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As UNIAN reported earlier, the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), in consultation with the Department of State, on April 6 designated seven Russian oligarchs and 12 companies they own or control, 17 senior Russian government officials, and a state-owned Russian weapons trading company and its subsidiary, a Russian bank.
The list includes such oligarchs as Vladimir Bogdanov, Oleg Deripaska, Suleiman Kerimov, Igor Rotenberg, Kirill Shamalov, Andrei Skoch and Viktor Vekselberg, oligarch-owned companies, such as B-Finance Ltd., Basic Element Limited, EN+ Group, EuroSibEnergo, United Company RUSAL PLC, Russian Machines, GAZ Group, Agroholding Kuban, Gazprom Burenie, NPV Engineering Open Joint Stock Company, Ladoga Menedzhment and Renova Group. Furthermore, it lists Russian state-owned firms, such as Rosoboroneksport and the Russian Financial Corporation Bank (RFC Bank). Moreover, the U.S. Treasury designated several Russian government officials, including Minister of Internal Affairs and General Police of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Director of the Federal Service of National Guard Troops and Commander of the National Guard Troops of the Russian Federation Viktor Zolotov, Head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov, President, Chairman of the Management Board, and Member of the Supervisory Council of state-owned VTB Bank Andrey Kostin, Governor of the Tula region of Russia Alexey Dyumin, and others.