Shipments to Russian smelters from Aughinish Alumina, a leading Irish metals refinery, have increased sharply since the invasion of Ukraine, leaked records and public data suggest. The plant, located on the Shannon estuary and owned by Russian aluminium group Rusal since 2006, is part of an international supply chain that appears to conclude with shipments to arms producers feeding the Kremlin's war machine.
Ireland exported $243 million of alumina to Russia in 2022, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, rising by 55% to $376 million in 2024. Aughinish is Ireland's only producer of alumina and the largest producer of the main raw material for making aluminium in Europe, according to a 2021 KPMG report. The rising trade does not appear to breach sanctions law and can be tracked via publicly available shipping records.
Analysis of further data, leaked to Russian investigative website iStories and shared with international media, raises questions about the EU's ability to prevent Russian arms manufacturers from using the bloc's raw materials. The records also appear to contradict previous reassurance from the Irish government. In 2022, then public expenditure minister Patrick O'Donovan told parliament the plant 'is not in any way connected to a war machine'.
Prof Aristides Matopoulos, a defence supply chains specialist from Cranfield University, said: 'Defence supply chains are inherently multi-tier and cross-border, which creates structural gaps that can render sanctions architecture not fully fit for purpose.' He added that every node in the chain could appear fully compliant while still enabling strategic materials to reach sanctioned end users.
Rusal's shipments of alumina between its sites in Ireland and Russia are legal as the EU has not placed sanctions on the commodity, even though the resultant aluminium has wide military uses and about a quarter of Rusal's shares are owned indirectly by sanctioned Russian metals tycoon Oleg Deripaska. A spokesperson for Aughinish said: 'We operate in strict compliance with all applicable EU laws, including sanctions, export control measures and trade regulations.'
