President
Vladimir Putin handed
Russian citizenship to gas producer Novatek's veteran finance chief Mark Gyetvay on Monday, a move that could potentially help the U.S. national bypass some
sanctions restrictions.
U.S. sanctions imposed on
Russia in 2014 ban U.S. nationals and companies from helping organize long-term funding for some major Russian firms, including Novatek.
When the U.S. and the EU imposed sanctions on Russia, executives with foreign passports at companies affected including Novatek - the country's largest non-state natural gas producer - and state bank VTB handed over responsibility for organizing new debt or equity issuance to colleagues without EU or U.S. passports.