Aughinish Alumina told the Irish government three years ago that the Ukraine war was creating a “challenging environment” for the Limerick plant because of the company’s links to sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, documents show.
Aughinish Alumina thanked the then minister for enterprise Simon Coveney in a 2023 meeting for the government’s “support” during what had been a turbulent period for the plant, between “threatened US sanctions a number of years ago to the economic fallout” from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Documents obtained by The Irish Times reveal the nature of behind-the-scenes talks that senior management at Aughinish Alumina had with ministers and senior officials over recent years.
In a meeting on May 10th, 2023, the company told Coveney and senior Department of Enterprise officials that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had created a “challenging environment” for the plant, “given the current ownership structures involving Rusal and Oleg Deripaska,” minutes of the discussion noted.
Aughinish Alumina is owned by Russian metals giant Rusal and ships vast quantities of alumina to smelters in Russia, where the raw material is turned into aluminium, a key ingredient in the industrial supply chain.
Deripaska, a figure previously described as “Putin’s favourite oligarch”, who is subject to EU sanctions, owned Rusal and its parent EN+. However, when the US announced sanctions on Deripaska in 2018, the Russian billionaire struck a deal to reduce his stake in the energy conglomerate he built to below 50 per cent, to prevent the company and Aughinish from being economically blacklisted. The Irish government lobbied Washington to protect Aughinish from sanctions at the time.
Minutes of the 2023 meeting show Aughinish Alumina thanked the Department of Enterprise for helping the company when it was facing the prospect of crushing US sanctions.
It expressed “appreciation for the ongoing dialogue with and support from the department and minister at what has been a challenging few years for the company,” the notes stated.
The meeting was attended by Ciaran Kelleher, managing director of the plant; Coveney and his adviser; an official from the IDA; and Declan Hughes, who shortly afterwards became secretary general of the department.
Aughinish Alumina’s exports to Russia continue to rise
The Foynes refinery, which employs several hundred people in the midwest, was working to “sustain jobs” in Limerick, Aughinish management told Enterprise officials in August 2022, several months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The department initially refused to release notes of the discussions under the Freedom of Information Act. However, redacted copies of the records were provided following a review sought by The Irish Times.
Aughinish Alumina’s exports of alumina to Russia have been in the spotlight after reporting by The Irish Times tracing the shipments to smelters in Russia, where it is made into aluminium that is sold to ASK, a Moscow trading company known to supply the alloy to Russian arms and missile manufacturers.
The Limerick plant’s exports to Russia have significantly increased since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and account for about half of Aughinish’s business, prompting concerns that material supplied by Ireland was being used to make missiles and weapons for Moscow’s war.
The Ukrainian government, and its allies in the Baltics, have called for EU sanctions to ban alumina sales to Russia.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm that drafts sanctions packages, is preparing to announce a new round of measures by the end of next month. Brussels officials are weighing up whether to propose sanctioning alumina in that package.
Sanctioned Russian billionaire retains control of Aughinish parent company
An investigation into Aughinish carried out by the Department of Enterprise was inconclusive. Officials did not establish Irish alumina was ultimately supplying the Russian military, but were unable to rule out the possibility either.
Records show Ciaran Kelleher, the plant’s manager, spoke to Hughes, department secretary general, by phone on June 12th, while the investigation was ongoing.
A note of the call said Aughinish was reminded the department’s inquiry could not be discussed. However, during the phone conversation the company outlined it only supplied a tenth of the alumina Rusal used in Russia, and the vast majority of what Rusal produced in Russia was exported.