Irish metals refinery is in supply chain that feeds Russian war machine, records suggest | Russia

One of Ireland’s leading metal refineries is part of an international aluminum supply chain that results in shipments to arms manufacturers fueling the Kremlin’s war machine in Ukraine, according to leaked records and publicly available data.

Trade records show shipments to Russian smelters from Aughinish Alumina in the Shannon estuary in the west of Ireland. Owned by Russian aluminum group Rusal Since 2006, it has increased sharply since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Ireland $243m (£180m) of alumina exported to Russia in 2022That’s up 55%, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), a data analytics website $376 million in 2024. Aughinish is Ireland’s sole alumina producer and the largest producer of the main raw material used to make aluminium in Europe. 2021 report of accounting group KPMG.

Increased trade with Russia does not appear to violate sanctions law and is questionable through publicly available shipping records.

But analysis of further data leaked to Russian investigative site iStories and shared with international media groups including the Guardian, Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) and the Irish Times raises new questions about the EU’s ability to prevent Russian arms manufacturers from using the trading bloc’s raw materials.

The records also appear to be inconsistent with previous assurances from the Irish government. In 2022, Ireland’s then public expenditure minister, Patrick O’Donovan, he told the country’s parliament It was stated that the facility was “in no way connected to a war machine”.

Aughinish representatives, who were presented with the findings from the new data, did not comment when asked by the Guardian and OCCRP how the facility ensured the products did not contribute to Russia’s attacks on Ukraine. O’Donovan did not comment.

Defense supply chains expert Prof from Cranfield University.

“When you trace the supply chain from the bauxite mine to the alumina refinery, to the smelter, to the trade intermediary and ultimately to a weapons manufacturer, it becomes clear that every node in the chain can appear to be fully compliant while also enabling strategic materials to reach approved end users. This is because end-use tracking of commodities such as alumina along opaque supply chains, while technically possible, remains highly challenging in practice.”

Shipments of alumina between Rusal’s facilities in Ireland and Russia are legal as the EU does not impose sanctions on the commodity; despite the fact that the resulting aluminum has broad military uses and about a quarter of Rusal’s shares are indirectly owned by sanctioned Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska.

Oligarch personally sanctioned England, EU And USAbut in 2019, the USA lifted the embargo on Rusal after Deripaska gave up controlling interest The largest shareholder of the aluminum group is EN+. Rusal also avoided EU and UK sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Aughinish said: “We operate in strict compliance with all applicable EU laws, including sanctions, export control measures and trade regulations. We maintain a strong commitment to legal and responsible business practices and constantly monitor regulatory developments to ensure the highest standards of compliance. The company has implemented a robust sanctions compliance and due diligence framework covering its entire supply chain.”

Aughinish refinery was built in the 1970s by aluminum giant Alcan as Ireland prepared to join the then European Economic Community (EEC). The plant was acquired by commodities trader Glencore, which then joined forces with Russian aluminum groups Rusal and SUAL in 2006, creating the “world’s largest aluminum producer”.

The plant is one of the largest employers in the west of Ireland, employing around 900 staff and supplying around 30% of the EU’s alumina for use in everything from medical devices to mobile phones, the KPMG report said.

Rusal’s refinery at Aughinish extracts aluminum oxide (also known as alumina) from sedimentary rock bauxite. The alumina is then sent to several Russian sister companies in the wider Rusal group, including a major smelter in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia’s second-largest city, where it is processed into aluminium.

Analysis of public records shows that almost 500,000 tonnes of alumina worth approximately $200 million were exported from Aughinish to Krasnoyarsk in 2024; this accounted for approximately two-thirds of the aluminum oxide imported into Russia by the Rusal smelter that year. Quantities of Irish alumina shipped appear to cover around 25% of the Siberian plant’s needs. 1 million tons of aluminum production annually.

During the same period, aluminum produced in Krasnoyarsk was sold through Rusal’s in-house trading company OK Rusal TD to a third-party trading company called Aluminum Sales Company (ASK); According to leaked records, ASK appears to have paid Rusal approximately $300 million in 2024.

The data also reveals apparent links between ASK and Rusal, including overlaps in ownership and financing: ASK shares addresses with Rusal branches in Russian cities such as Moscow, Volgograd and Bratsk, and also appears to have received loans from the aluminum group.

ASK’s customers, meanwhile, include dozens of sanctioned arms companies that produce missiles, explosives and long-range bombers used in attacks against Ukraine. For example, in 2024, ASK’s biggest customer was revealed to be the Sverdlov factory, located in the Russian town of Dzerzhinsk, about 250 miles east of Moscow, which produces missile casings and explosives, and which is said to have been established by Ukrainian forces. He was targeted by his forces in October.

Sverdlov plant is the only one in Russia Major producer of high explosives RDX and HMXAccording to a Ukrainian intelligence official and the Council of the European Union subjected the company to sanctions in 2023.

According to leaked documents, weapons producing companies paid a total of $ 337 million for aluminum under Russian state defense contracts between February 2022 and April 2025.

Spokespeople for ASK, Rusal, EN+ and Deripaska did not respond to invitations to comment on the data analysis contacted by the Guardian; These invitations included questions about whether the use of an intermediary trading company was a method of avoiding sanctions.

Rusal’s Aughinish spokesman said: “We particularly highlight the fact that both alumina and aluminum are an internationally recognized essential product, that by their nature they serve broad general-purpose societal needs and are vital to numerous civilian industries.

“We believe that any attempt to state otherwise is flawed and intended to create a biased narrative. To single out one company in particular for criticism in this way discredits legitimate and vital business operations that provide economic value and support thousands of workers, contractors, and families.”

A spokesman for Ireland’s department of business, tourism and employment said: “The general principle of EU sanctions against Russia is that these sanctions do not have a greater impact on European member states than on Russia itself. The Aughinish plant is not subject to sanctions by the EU, and sanctions have not been proposed by the EU. Alumina is also not a sanctioned product, so its export to other countries, including Russia, is not restricted. Irish authorities are committed to ensuring that all sanctions are complied with once they come into force.”

“Ireland continues to unequivocally support Ukraine in the face of Russia’s unjust occupation.”