WASHINGTON (AP) — Western business connections are complicating efforts to bring economic sanctions against executives and companies closely aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. A prime example: the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a $10 billion sovereign wealth fund that’s escaped sanctions in spite of international efforts to punish Russia for its incursions in Ukraine.
A sanctioned Russian bank funds the RDIF, and a top Putin aide serves on one of its board. The fund’s international advisory board, meanwhile, is stocked with blue-chip American and European private equity executives, among them Stephen Schwarzman of The Blackstone Group LP, Leon Black of Apollo Global Management LLC and David Bonderman of TPG Capital LP.
