OREANDA-NEWS. US Treasury chief Stephen Mnuchin asked the Washington federal court to dismiss the lawsuit of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, who claims that US sanctions are unjustly destroying his global business. This is reported by the American media.

Mnuchin said that Deripaska is a foreign citizen who can't complain to the American court about the violation of his rights. According to the head of the Ministry of Finance, the Russian businessman couldn't "adequately prove his presence in the United States or its relationship with them". “As a foreigner who does not have a sufficient presence and significant contacts with the United States, Deripaska can't make a complaint about constitutional rights”, the Finance Ministry quoted Bloomberg as saying.

Deripaska appealed to the District of Columbia Court in the United States in March 2019. In his lawsuit, the businessman said that the sanctions that the US Treasury introduced in April 2018 against his companies (En +, UC Rusal, Eurosibenergo) were groundless and ruined his business. The businessman’s statement also said that, in addition to sanctions, the Finance Ministry’s decision to include him in the “list of oligarchs” close to Vladimir Putin caused significant damage to his reputation and financial condition. Deripaska estimated his damage at $ 7.5 billion.

Deripaska's companies were listed by the Ministry of Finance on the basis of the so-called Kremlin report with the names of senior officials and businessmen whom Washington found close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the lawsuit, Deripaska demands to remove his name from the sanctions list and from the Kremlin report, stop calling him an oligarch, and also reveal the factual grounds on which restrictions were introduced against him. “Only the courts can decide whether a person is guilty or innocent, and I believe that US courts are objective enough to adhere to US laws and the Constitution”, Deripaska said in a statement.