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A cross-party coalition of 47 MEPs has sent a letter to the EU’s trade and foreign policy chiefs urging them to act immediately against exports of alumina to Russia – particularly from Ireland.
Earlier this week, the European Commission proposed the 21st sanctions package targeting Russia’s key sectors since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Alumina is not among the sanctioned exports.
“That decision is a serious mistake – and the facts now demand it be corrected,” reads the letter, addressed to High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas and Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič.
Ireland’s Aughinish Alumina is the EU’s main alumina exporter to Russia, supplying a key raw material used in weapons such as drones and missiles that Moscow deploys against Ukraine.
The signatories say there is now incontrovertible evidence that alumina refined at Aughinish is shipped to smelters in Russia’s Siberia region, citing an investigation by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project.
“We therefore call on the Commission to act without further delay and, working with European industry, redirect Aughinish’s offtake to European buyers through a structured public-private partnership,” the letter continues.
The letter was led by MEP Bart Groothuis (Renew Europe, the Netherlands) and drew support from lawmakers across the political spectrum, from the right to the far left.
EU institutions have so far framed the matter as a domestic issue after Ireland launched an inquiry into the company’s exports. But during a visit to Dublin this week, Kallas urged the Irish government to clarify the exports – this as the country prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU for the second half of the year.
According to Ireland’s Central Statistics Office, 83 percent of Irish alumina exports went to Russia. Aughinish has rejected that estimate as a clerical error, instead putting it at 45 percent.
The company is controlled by Oleg Deripaska, a sanctioned Russian oligarch in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.
“Aughinish supplies approximately 30 percent of Europe’s alumina needs,” the MEPs’ letter states. “These are legitimate economic concerns, and we do not dismiss them. But they describe a dependency that Russia has deliberately engineered, running the same playbook it ran with gas.”
The letter suggests the EU follow the approach the US took when confronting strategic dependence on Chinese rare earth supply: entering a public-private partnership to build a commercially viable domestic alternative.
The MEPs call on the Commission to assess Europe’s alumina refining capacity, secure long-term offtake commitments from European smelters, and include alumina in the 22nd sanctions package.
EU institutions are awaiting the conclusion of the Irish inquiry. If no action is taken in the meantime, alumina could feature in the next sanctions package against Russia, which Euronews understands is expected after the summer recess.