Ukraine has seized UAH 32 million ($870,000) of Ukraine’s largest producer of metallurgical alumina and aluminum hydroxide, owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, its Prosecutor General’s Office informed.
According to Ekonomichna Pravda, the mentioned company is the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant. In 2022, it was reported that a court transferred this enterprise from the ownership of the Russian oligarch to Ukraine’s ARMA Agency for Investigation and Management of Assets, which deals with assets derived from corruption and other crimes.
Earlier, at the request of prosecutors, the property of the factory was seized; today, the total value of the seized assets exceeds UAH 1 bn ($27 mn).
According to the investigation, in 2000, this enterprise was privatized by a holding company owned by Deripaska, who is currently under US, EU, Ukrainian, UK, Polish, Swiss, Australian, and New Zealand sanctions.
“The Russian holding is one of the world’s largest aluminum producers. Its group of companies continues to meet the needs of the Russian defense industry by supplying its own products for the production of military missile systems and other weapons,” the Prosecutor’s Office noted.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice proposed seizing the factories of Oleg Deripaska on 10 January. It noted that Deripaska is one of the richest Russian oligarchs and a close associate of the Russian president. He controls or owns significant stakes in the Rusal (one of the world’s largest aluminum producers), Basic Element, and En+ Group companies.
He also owns a military-industrial company that controls Russian companies that manufacture armored vehicles, which the Russian armed forces later use in the war against Ukraine.
“In the process of establishing the grounds for the Ministry of Justice’s request, we received information that the group of metallurgical enterprises United Company Rusal supplies aluminum products to Russian defense companies that directly develop, manufacture, and supply military equipment, weapons, and ammunition for the needs of the Russian armed forces. At the same time, some of the aluminum products are made from raw materials of Ukrainian origin, namely, produced by Mykolaiv Alumina Plant LLC,” the Ministry of Justice noted.
Apart from the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, Deripaska owns shares in a string of metallurgical companies in Ukraine.
