UPDATE 1-U.S. House Democrats aim to hold Deripaska-linked companies to sanctions deal

Four leading U.S. House lawmakers said on Tuesday they were considering legislation to ensure Russian aluminum giant Rusal and its parent En+ , two companies tied to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, comply with an agreement that allowed them to be removed from a U.S. sanctions list.

"We are considering additional legislative actions to ensure that (the U.S.) Treasury and these companies comply with the agreement in letter and in spirit," the four Democratic chairs of the House Ways and Means, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Financial Services committees said in a joint statement. The U.S. Treasury Department said on Sunday that it was lifting sanctions imposed on aluminum firm US Rusal plc, En+ Group plc and JSC EuroSibEnergo, three companies linked to the billionaire Deripaska, an influential businessman close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It had announced on Dec. 20 that the sanctions would be lifted, watering down the toughest penalties imposed since Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea. But the Democratic lawmakers complained bitterly that the sanctions were lifted before a congressional review could be completed.

"Mr. Deripaska has a history of involvement with Moscow for malign purposes, and we have serious questions about whether the agreement reached between Treasury and Mr. Deripaska," the lawmakers said in a statement. The statement was released by Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, and House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters. All are Democrats. (Reporting by Tim Ahmann, editing by G Crosse)