Anastasia Gorbacheva21:09, 06.06.26

The EU is calling for sanctions against an Irish factory linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

A scandal is brewing in Ireland over the export of alumina from a plant owned by a Russian company that could potentially be used in Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine, putting Dublin in an awkward position ahead of its presidency of the European Union.

The Financial Times reports that the Aughinish Alumina plant in southwest Ireland is Europe’s largest and a major supplier of raw materials for aluminum production. Although the plant itself is not subject to EU sanctions, its owner, Russian company Rusal, one of the world’s largest aluminum companies, was founded by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is subject to US, EU and UK sanctions.

“If it turns out that the factory’s exports are being used to produce weapons that are being used against Ukraine, then Ireland should call the European Commission and say… you need to take action,” said Irish MEP Regina Doherty, who represents the center-right Fine Gael party, which is part of the ruling coalition.

The Irish government said it was investigating but had no information that alumina from the plant was going to Russian arms production. However, Russian customs reports for 2025 show that the largest recipient of alumina was Rusal’s plant in Krasnoyarsk.

According to an investigation by the Irish Times, Rusal’s trading division sells aluminum from this plant to ASK, a trading house that supplies products to the military-industrial complex.

A recent analysis by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) also showed that when the Kremlin began withholding information about state procurement in 2023, aluminum was a key commodity that military companies were buying up in large quantities. KSE sanctions expert Pavlo Shkurenko said:

Aluminum and its alloys are used in the production of tanks, armored vehicles, fighter jets, missile systems, and more recently, unmanned aerial vehicles. For example, high-purity aluminum alloys are required for jet-powered long-range drones such as the Geran-3 (Shahed).

“It is becoming increasingly clear that materials produced in Ireland are part of the Russian military machine. This is unacceptable and we call on the European Commission to take action and impose sanctions on all exports to Russia of materials that could be used to produce weapons or drones that kill Ukrainian citizens every day,” said European Green Co-Chair Ciaran Cuffe.

In turn, Irish Prime Minister Michel Martin said that Aughinish is an important employer in the region, but “we do not want our products to be turned in any way into weapons or explosives that could be used against Ukraine or other countries.”

The Ukrainian Embassy in Dublin has expressed “serious concern over the continued export of alumina from Ireland to the Russian Federation.” The diplomatic service, in a post on the X social network, referred to the “alarming trade flow” of alumina entering Russia, which has increased to 315 million euros in 2025 from 196 million euros in 2021. 

The scandal is escalating as Ireland, which has taken in a large number of Ukrainian refugees, takes over the presidency of the EU on July 1.

(C)UNIAN 2026