UK lifts sanctions on ex-Sberbank First Deputy CEO Khasis

MOSCOW. July 6 (Interfax) - The United Kingdom has removed Lev Khasis, one of the few Russian top managers who has a record of managerial work with global corporations, from its sanction list, according to the latest update by the UK Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

Starting July 6, Khasis is no longer subject to an asset freeze or trust services sanctions, it said.

Khasis was vice president of Alfa Bank and supervised its retail project, the Perekrestok retail chain, in the 1990s. He later served as executive director of X5 Retail Group in 2006-2011 and was senior vice president of the U.S.' Wal-Mart Stores in 2011-2013.

Khasis joined Sberbank in 2013 as first deputy CEO, and his functions included, inter alia, the development of e-commerce. His departure from Sberbank was announced even before the start of the special military operation, on February 15, 2022. However, it was not formalized immediately, and the Sberbank Supervisory Board's decision was initially formulated as follows: "terminate [Khasis'] powers starting June 1, 2022." A week later, the bank reported that the Supervisory Board's decision was amended to "terminate [his] powers by June 1, 2022," but this did not spare Khasis from being included in the UK sanctions list along with Sberbank's top managers who remained in their positions.