Oleg Deripaska was ready to testify in the US Congress in the framework of the committee's investigations of "Russian interference" in the elections in exchange for non-judgments. This is reported by the New York Times.

NYT calls Deripaska a member of Vladimir Putin's "close circle" and writes, citing the opinions of three anonymous sources in Congress that Deripaska was ready to answer questions from the security committee. But as a condition, he demanded that he be granted immunity from prosecution.

According to the newspaper, the intelligence committee of the House of Representatives denied Deripaska because of fears that this could create difficulties for FBI employees who are investigating the relations of US President Donald Trump with Russia.

Earlier, the Associated Press (AP) reported that the head of Trump's campaign headquarters, Paul Manafort, secretly worked for Oleg Deripaska more than 10 years ago and promoted the interests of the Russian authorities. Deripaska denied this information, having bought for this purpose an advertising strip in The Wall Street Journal.

Then the businessman sued the agency for publication. The text of AP about himself Deripaska called "part of the anti-Russian campaign of American media." The lawsuit was filed May 15, it will be considered in the Washington court. The interests of the businessman is represented by the famous American law firm Boies Schiller.

Investments of Oleg Deripaska in the USA

In his publication, The New York Times also cites data on the investment of Oleg Deripaska in the United States. According to the publication, referring to the materials of one of the court cases, Deripaska over the past ten years acquired a number of assets in the United States, acting through trusts registered in the British Virgin Islands.

In particular, NYT claims that in 2006 in the interests of Deripaska for $ 5.4 million was purchased a complex of residential real estate Greenwich Village in Manhattan (New York). Another building in the Upper East Side (New York) was purchased in 2008 for $ 42.5 million. And in 2014 Deripaska, as the newspaper writes, bought a 50% stake in the newspaper "In the New World," the largest Russian-language publication USA.

Comments of Oleg Deripaska or his representatives on the information provided by the New York Times does not.

For "libel" will answer: Deripaska sued the Associated Press
Forbes, 05/16/2017

The agency claimed that Manafort worked for a Russian billionaire to promote the interests of Vladimir Putin

Billionaire Oleg Deripaska sued the Associated Press (AP), he accused the agency of libel, reports Politico with reference to the statement. In the "Basic Element", owned by a businessman, Forbes confirmed the fact of filing a lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed May 15, it will be considered in the Washington court. The interests of the businessman will be represented by the well-known American law firm Boies Schiller.

Discontent of the businessman was caused by article of journalists AP Jeff Horwitz and Chad Dey from March, 22nd, where it was said that Deripaska within five years has paid $ 50 million to the former head of the pre-election headquarters of Donald Trump Polu Manafort.

"Paul Manafort secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to promote the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin," the publication stated. According to the agency, in 2006 Manafort signed a contract, which paid out $ 10 million a year. The contract was in force until at least 2009.

Manafort confirmed to the AP that he worked for Deripaska, but said that his work would be unfairly assessed as illegal.

The lawsuit says that the article created a false impression that Deripaska's relations with Manafort were linked to the election campaign of Donald Trump and that Deripaska is associated with ongoing investigations of the alleged theft of assets from Ukraine after the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. "Mr. Deripaska did not make any payments to Mr. Manafort, in order to undermine democratic movements," the statement says.

Manafort directed Trump's election headquarters for several months. He was removed from office after the Ukrainian authorities accused him of being an adviser to Yanukovich in 2007-2012, received from his administration almost $ 13 million and helped the Party of Regions to withdraw to the US a minimum of $ 2.2 million.​

Russian Once Tied to Trump Aide Seeks Immunity to Cooperate With Congress
The New York Times, 26.05.2017

The court documents and public records show that Mr. Deripaska, whose companies have long had offices in New York, has expanded his American holdings over the past 10 years, buying high-priced Manhattan townhouses and a major stake in a Russian-language newspaper in New York.

The lawsuit was brought by Alexander Gliklad, a Russian-born businessman, who charged that Mr. Deripaska had used his diplomatic status as a cover to do business, which the oligarch denied. Mr. Gliklad claims he is entitled to collect funds that Mr. Deripaska had agreed to pay to settle a lawsuit with a man who owed Mr. Gliklad money from a court judgment. Last month, a New York State Supreme Court justice rejected Mr. Gliklad’s argument that the Manhattan court had jurisdiction over Mr. Deripaska.

As Mr. Manafort’s dealings with Russia-friendly Ukrainian politicians, business activities and loans have come under examination in recent months, his former client has gotten caught up in the media scrutiny. The two men were partners in an offshore fund set up in 2007 to buy telecommunications and cable television assets in Ukraine, where Mr. Manafort had advised then-President Viktor F. Yanukovych. That deal fell apart, winding up in litigation in the Cayman Islands.

In March, Mr. Deripaska took out newspaper ads stating that he was willing to participate in hearings before Congress after The Associated Press published a report alleging that Mr. Manafort had provided him with a plan in 2005 outlining steps to “greatly benefit the Putin government,” by influencing politics and news coverage in the United States. Mr. Deripaska has denied ever entering into such an arrangement and sued The A.P. for libel last month. The news organization has said it stands by its article. Mr. Manafort has denied that his work for the oligarch was aimed at aiding the Russian government.

There are no indications thus far that the F.B.I. is seeking to interview Mr. Deripaska as part of the continuing investigation into Russian interference in the presidential election.

Lawyers at the firm representing Mr. Deripaska in the libel action did not respond to a request for comment about his offer to cooperate with congressional investigators. Adam Waldman, a Washington lobbyist representing Mr. Deripaska, did not respond to an email seeking comment.

For years, Mr. Putin complained about the State Department’s refusal to issue Mr. Deripaska a visa. “They give us nothing, explain to us nothing, and forbid him from entry,” Mr. Putin told the French newspaper Le Monde in 2008.

It is considered difficult to deny diplomatic visas to people carrying the proper credentials issued by their own countries. A State Department spokesman, William B. Cocks, said he could not discuss individual visa issues, citing confidentiality. But speaking generally, he said diplomats coming to the United States received a special visa while foreigners doing business in this country needed a business visa.

The timing of Mr. Deripaska’s diplomatic visits to the United States are notable because they began after the F.B.I. withdrew from a secret deal that allowed him into the country. In 2008, the F.B.I., over State Department objections, arranged for him to receive a special visa after he agreed to help the bureau find a retired agent, Robert Levinson, who had disappeared in Iran the year before. F.B.I. officials ended the deal in 2009 after concluding that the arrangement was not fruitful, according to former officials at the bureau.

He sought to get a visa in 2015 to testify in the Manhattan court case, according to court filings, but the State Department refused to issue him one.

Mr. Deripaska, whose net worth has been estimated at $5.3 billion by Forbes, has global business interests and sits atop a number of companies, including United Company Rusal and Basic Element, which includes businesses ranging from agriculture to aviation to automobiles.

According to filings in the Manhattan lawsuit, Mr. Deripaska’s investments in the United States over the past decade include two Manhattan townhouses bought through shell companies owned by a British Virgin Islands trust. Records show one of those properties, in Greenwich Village, was purchased in 2006 for $4.5 million; the other building, on the Upper East Side, was bought two years later for $42.5 million. In 2014, he acquired a 50 percent stake in the largest Russian-language newspaper in the United States, V Novom Svete, or In The New World, located in Lower Manhattan, court filings state.

He also agreed to “support” a hedge fund run by the former president of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, by investing in it through an offshore shell company, according to one filing. Through his assistant, Mr. Wolfensohn declined to comment. A spokesman in Moscow for one of Mr. Deripaska’s companies did not respond to questions about the business dealings.