Ukraine nationalizes Deripaska’s resources used for weapons production
14 March 07:39
The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has filed a lawsuit with the High Anti-Corruption Court to impose sanctions on a Russian aluminum company and its owner and to seize their assets. This was reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office, Komersant ukrainskyi reports
Law enforcement officials do not specify the name of the oligarch, but it is clear from the circumstances of the case that it is the sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who is a member of Putin’s inner circle.
This lawsuit calls for the nationalization of more than 440 thousand tons of bauxite (sedimentary rocks) and 110 thousand tons of metallurgical alumina worth more than UAH 2 billion.
We are talking about almost 500 thousand tons of bauxite and alumina produced in our country before the full-scale invasion. They were stored in the warehouses of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, which was previously owned by a Russian. The total value of the seized assets is over UAH 2.11 billion.
These products were the main component for aluminum production at Oleg Deripaska’s Russian Rusal plants. His plants, in particular, manufacture components for Iskander ballistic missiles, combat drones and radar systems.
As SBU investigators found out, the seized bauxite and alumina belonged to the Russian oligarch through a controlled commercial entity registered in one of the EU countries. This company was the formal customer of the Mykolaiv plant’s products for further re-export to Deripaska’s Russian enterprises. In early 2023, Ukrainian law enforcement officers uncovered the fraud and blocked the shipment of these raw materials.
The pre-trial investigation in the criminal proceedings on the financing of actions committed with the aim of forcible change or overthrow of the constitutional order (Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) is currently underway.
In February 2023, based on the materials of the Security Service and the State Bureau of Investigation, the High Anti-Corruption Court upheld the claim of the Ministry of Justice to transfer enterprises owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to the state ownership of Ukraine.
The court’s decision concerned Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, as well as the Hlukhiv Quartzite Quarry, Khust Quarry, and Zhezheliv Quarry mining companies.
The value of the property transferred to Ukraine at that time was over UAH 10 billion.
Who is Deripaska?
Oleg Deripaska is a Russian oligarch, billionaire, owner of the Basic Element holding, head of the Russian Aluminum, Siberian Aluminum, and Sayanogorsk Aluminum Plant. In 2008, his fortune was estimated at $28 billion, but in 2020 it was only $2.3 billion. Since April 2018, he has been under US sanctions, and since 2022, he has been under sanctions from other Western countries due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In 2022, he called for peace and early peace talks with Ukraine.
Recently, Ukraine announced suspicion of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and detained two of his Ukrainian top managers who supplied Russia with raw materials for the production of Iskander ballistic missiles.
More than a year ago, Ukraine seized oligarch Deripaska’s property. The seized property includes 12 land plots, a seaport complex, apartments, administrative buildings, production workshops, 46 vehicles, and 240 pieces of special equipment.
