Irish plant supply chain may feed Russian weapons production — FT
Billionaire Oleg Deripaska, Rusal owner (photo: Getty Images)
Pressure is mounting on the Irish government over alumina exports from the Aughinish plant, owned by Russia's Rusal, founded by oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The material produced there could be used to manufacture Russian weapons, the Financial Times reports.
About the plant
The Aughinish alumina refinery in southwest Ireland is Europe's largest producer of alumina, a key raw material for aluminum production. The plant is not subject to EU sanctions, but its owner, Rusal, is one of the world's largest aluminum companies.
Rusal was founded by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is under sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.
The United States placed Rusal under sanctions in 2018, but lifted them a year later after Deripaska reduced his ownership stake and voting rights.
Where material goes
According to Russian customs documents from 2025 reviewed by the Financial Times, the largest recipient of alumina from Aughinish is Rusal's plant in Krasnoyarsk.
The Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) has included the city in its list of critical Russian military-industrial centers.
According to the Irish Times, Rusal's trading arm sells aluminum from the Krasnoyarsk plant to the ASK trading house, which supplies products to Russia's military-industrial complex.
KSE sanctions expert Pavlo Shkurenko explained why Russia needs aluminum: "Aluminium and its alloys are used in the production of tanks, armoured vehicles, fighter jets, missile systems, and most recently — UAVs. For instance, jet-turbine variants of deep strike drones (such as the Geran-3 [Shahed]) require high-purity aluminium alloys."
How much export costs
According to the Ukrainian embassy in Dublin, alumina exports from Ireland to Russia rose from €196 million in 2021 to €315 million in 2025.
Irish Enterprise Minister Peter Burke this week questioned national statistics showing that 83% of Aughinish exports in the first quarter went to Russia.
He said the company had reported an error. According to the Irish Times, Aughinish revised the figure to 51%, compared with 45% in 2025, attributing the earlier number to a "clerical error."
Political reaction
European Parliament member Regina Doherty of the ruling Fine Gael party said: "If there is even a shadow of a doubt that we had unwittingly supported a supply chain of war materials, that should be an absolute imperative for us to act immediately."
She was joined by three other Fine Gael MEPs.
Co-chair of the European Greens Ciarán Cuffe said it was becoming increasingly clear that materials produced in Ireland are part of Russia's war machine in Ukraine, calling on the European Commission to sanction all exports of materials to Russia that could be used to produce weapons or drones.
Government reaction
Irish Defense Minister Micheál Martin described Aughinish as an important local employer but added: "We don't want to, in any shape or form, have a product that ends up as weapons or explosives that impact on Ukraine or indeed on others."
The government says it is conducting an investigation, but has not given a timeline.
Ukraine's reaction
The Ukrainian Embassy in Dublin expressed serious concern over the continued export of alumina from Ireland to the Russian Federation, calling the trade flow troubling.
"Over the past week alone, the Russian Federation has launched more than 2,900 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs and more than 150 missiles against Ukrainian cities and communities," the embassy said.
Aughinish and Rusal did not respond to Financial Times' requests for comment.
The growing scandal comes as Ireland, which has taken in a large number of Ukrainian refugees since the war began, prepares to assume the EU presidency on July 1.
"As we assume the presidency of the European Union next month, if we're the largest exporter of alumina to the Russian war machine and we're saying things like 'Glory to Ukraine' and we stand for peace, it's a completely and utterly untenable situation," said independent senator Tom Clonan.
Earlier, in January 2025, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) seized Oleg Deripaska's assets in Ukraine — about 500,000 tons of bauxite and alumina stored at warehouses of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, which previously belonged to the oligarch.
According to investigators, the raw materials were intended for Rusal plants in Russia to produce aluminum.
