Kremlin doubts authenticity of reports on U.S. probe into Russian negotiations with other oil producing countries
MOSCOW. April 23 (Interfax) - The Russian presidential administration has seen media reports about an alleged investigation taking place in the United States into the involvement of individuals "with ties to the Kremlin" in possible trade of insider information on the oil futures market, but is unconfident of their authenticity.
"We saw the media reports. We don't know to what extent they reflect reality," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Thursday, commenting on the reports.
Peskov said that "there is such an amount of false statements and inventions being published in the media now that big allowances need to be made when taking this in."
Bloomberg said citing sources that the U.S. authorities were investigating whether certain traders on the futures market had insider information on the progress of Russia's negotiations with other oil producing countries in March.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is looking into whether certain market players knew in advance about Russia's strategy in OPEC relations, which could have allowed them to cash in on dramatic fluctuations in prices. The United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority is also probing suspicious operations with futures, Bloomberg's sources said.