Coveney hopeful on Aughinish jobs

By Pádraig Hoare

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has said he is hopeful that more than 650 jobs at Aughinish Alumina in Limerick can be secured following crippling sanctions on its Russian owner by the US.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs said the US Administration had been “very helpful” in relation to the preservation of the jobs at the plant near Askeaton.

Aughinish Alumina is owned by Russian firm Rusal, which is majority-owned by En+, a company controlled by Russian billionaire, Oleg Deripaska, who was targeted by the US because of his purported ties to the Kremlin.

In all, 450 staff and 220 contractors are employed at Aughinish Alumina, which has been described as one of Limerick’s best employers.

The US Treasury has extended the deadline to investors to divest interests in the Rusal to October 23. Mr Derispaska has been told he must relinquish control of his stake but is still understood to be reluctant to do so.

Minister Coveney said: “We have been raising the Aughinish issue for months now, and our ambassador and our team in Washington are very active on it. I have also been active on it, as have Ministers Pat Breen and others.

“It is a really important issue for the Midwest, it is a huge employer, and the impact of US sanctions on certain Russian individuals is, in turn, impacting of the future of Aughinish, and we are trying to resolve that issue. I have to say, the US has been very helpful so far on trying to find solutions on that issue.”

The FBI and Department of Justice attempted to turn Mr Deripaska into a US intelligence asset between 2014 and 2016, according to a New York Times report.

Mr Deripaska is said to have refused and alerted the Kremlin about the American attempts to “flip” him.

His allies claim the sanctions are a result of his refusal to co-operate with the US authorities.