US may set Timchenko precedent

Washington’s desire to limit Iranian influence in Iraq may leave its Volga Group sanctions looking hollow

Russia’s Stroytransgaz, subject to US sanctions since 2014 due to the close ties its parent Volga Group and its owner Gennady Timchenko, a key Putin ally, have to the Kremlin, signed in September a contract for “exploration, development and production” in a 12,000km² (4,600 square mile) area in Iraq’s Anbar Province.  But Washington is expected to largely turn a blind eye to Timchenko’s involvement, with Iraq’s move towards developing indigenous gas resources—as an alternative to imports from Iran—being a higher priority. And this grudgingly acceptance of Volga and Timchenko’s Iraq role will make it more difficult for the US to justify taking a hard line against other Timchenko-linked compan