NOVO-OGARYOVO. Nov 1 (Interfax) - The Kremlin is hoping to receive additional information on the sanctions imposed by the United States on prominent Russian performer Grigory Leps.
"Leps is indeed a campaign representative of [Vladimir] Putin, a singer loved by Russians, and, naturally, we are hoping to get from our U.S. colleagues and partners more detailed information on the reasons for this decision," Russian presidential press officer Dmitry Peskov told Interfax on Thursday.
Peskov reiterated that Leps is a citizen of Russia and his interests, like the interests of all citizens of Russia, will be protected.
It was reported last night that the U.S. Department of Finance had announced the inclusion in control lists of six people on suspicion of membership in the Eurasian criminal syndicate Brotherly Circle: Artur Badalyan, Grigory Lepsveridze, Vadim Lyalin, Sergei Moskalenko, Yakov Rybalsky, and Igor Shlykov. These people are suspected of connections with people named Vladislav Leontyev and Gafur Rakhimov, who are considered to be influential members of criminal groups and have been on the U.S. sanctions lists since February 2012.
According to the U.S. Department of Finance, Lyalin and Shlykov have Russian passports, Moskalenko is a citizen of Uzbekistan, and Rybalsky is a citizen of Israel. The U.S. Department of Finance did not state the citizenship of Badalyan and Lepsveridze, stating Thailand as Lepsveridze's country of residence. The U.S. authorities are accusing Lepsveridze of working as a courier for Leontyev.
In 2011, U.S. President Barack Obama classified the syndicate Brotherly Circle as "a significant transnational organized criminal group" and ordered the U.S. Department of Finance to sabotage their global criminal operations.
The inclusion of a person in the blacklists of the U.S. Department of Finance leads to the blocking of this person's assets in the U.S. and a ban on business contacts with him for people who live in the U.S.
Grigory Leps is a well-know performer, composer, producer, an Honored Artist of Russia, and winner of the awards Shanson Goda, Golden Gramophone, and Song of the Year.