(In response to original headline questioning why the US was removing a single oligarch from sanctions.)
It isn't. The license applies to majority Usmanov-owned entities that aren't otherwise explicitly sanctioned; Usmanov himself is still sanctioned, as are other entities tied to him.
It’s still weird, though; I suspect to really understand it (absent a public explanation) would require going through a list of Usmanov-owned entities and the specific sanctions list to find which of the former aren't on the latter and thus are unblocked, and reasoning from there.
> A few other oligarchs, and their companies, have been exempted because of their importance to the global commodities market, most notably Oleg Deripaska and his aluminium producer Rusal.
> When very harsh sanctions were imposed on Deripaska in 2018 that effectively banned doing any business with the company, prices for aluminium on the London Metals Exchange (LME) soared by 40% overnight potentially causing a price shock for the consumers of the metal. The implementation of those sanctions were at first delayed and eventually withdrawn completely
It isn't. The license applies to majority Usmanov-owned entities that aren't otherwise explicitly sanctioned; Usmanov himself is still sanctioned, as are other entities tied to him.
It’s still weird, though; I suspect to really understand it (absent a public explanation) would require going through a list of Usmanov-owned entities and the specific sanctions list to find which of the former aren't on the latter and thus are unblocked, and reasoning from there.