Rusal shareholder Oleg Deripaska sanctioned by EU

The latest round of sanctions decided by EU member states includes Oleg Deripaska, the oligarch with connections to Aughinish Alumina, which employs 450 people in Co Limerick. Picture: AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File

The latest round of sanctions decided by EU member states includes Oleg Deripaska, the oligarch with connections to Aughinish Alumina, which employs 450 people in Co Limerick. 

Aughinish Alumina is owned by Rusal, in which Mr Deripaska retains an interest via his shareholding in Rusal’s majority owner En+ Group.

It is unknown what, if any, impact the sanctions on Mr Deripaska will have on Aughinish Alumina's operations. 

After two days of deliberation, EU member states finally agreed today on a fifth package of wide-ranging economic and individual sanctions against Russia.

The latest round was in direct response to the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha, involving mass executions of civilians while their hands were tied, the use of rape as a tool of war against women, and the discovery of almost 300 bodies in a mass grave.

Some 217 individuals including several key oligarchs, high-ranking business people, and Kremlin officials responsible for disseminating propaganda were sanctioned.

Of those, Mr Deripaska, a wealthy Russian tycoon, who has been under sanction by the US since 2018, owns a company that provides military hardware to Russian forces.

Putin’s daughters

Putin’s daughters Katerina Vladimirovna Tikhonova and Maria Vladimirovna Vorontsovaand from his marriage to ex-wife Yekaterina Sergeyevna Vinokurova have also been sanctioned by the EU. The US and UK also imposed asset and travel freezes on the two sisters.

Imports on caviar and vodka, two of Russia’s best-known luxury items, are also now banned.

The EU has sanctioned 898 individuals since the invasion began.

As of August 2022, the EU will no longer allow the import or sale of coal from Russia. It’s the first time the energy sector has been directly hit, albeit the ban will only come into place after a four-month phase-in period. It’ll impact around a fourth of all coal exports, and is worth €8bn for Russia.

Ukraine is calling for stronger, immediate measures on energy, particularly on oil which is a direct source of finance for the war, as Russia receives around one-third of public revenue from exporting oil, according to Ukrainian trade minister Tara Kachka.

The sanctions also include a total ban on Russian and Belarusian freight road operators working in the EU, and a ban on Russian-flagged vessels to EU ports.

EU foreign affairs ministers are meeting in Luxembourg on Monday where the issue of oil and gas sanctions will be discussed. 

"Let’s face it, after this package, there’s nothing more to sanction other than oil and gas" an EU official told the Irish Examiner.