COMMERCE/CONFLICT OF INTEREST/RUSSIA/WILBUR ROSS: “The commerce secretary, Wilbur L. Ross Jr., indicated on Monday [11-6-17] that he would probably sell his stake in a shipping company with business ties to Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s inner circle, amid fallout from publication of a vast leak of offshore files that documented the connection.
Mr. Ross retained an investment in the shipper, Navigator Holdings, even as he sold off numerous other holdings to join the Trump administration, information that did not emerge publicly during his confirmation proceedings.
Among Navigator’s biggest clients is Sibur, a Russian energy firm whose owners include Gennady Timchenko, an oligarch who is a friend of Mr. Putin’s and is subject to United States sanctions, and Kirill Shamalov, Mr. Putin’s son-in-law. Navigator earns millions of dollars a year chartering ships to Sibur.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Mr. Ross said that he would ‘probably not’ keep his Navigator investment, but that it did not pose a conflict of interest. He also defended Navigator’s business dealings with Sibur, saying there was ‘nothing whatsoever wrong with it.’ “
-Mike McIntire, “Commerce Secretary May Sell Investment in Russia-Linked Company,” The New York Times online, Nov. 6, 2017