A Government investigation into Aughinish Alumina said it was unable to obtain confidential documents from Sweden showing the plant is owned by a Russian oligarch.
This is despite the judgment being publicly available from Swedish authorities in return for a €25 fee.
The investigation was launched by the Department of Enterprise last March following disclosures by The Irish Times that Irish alumina is being sold in large quantities to smelters that sell finished aluminium to a company supplying the Russian arms industry.
The Government has declined to release a report on the findings of its investigation, but a copy obtained by The Irish Times states there is not enough evidence to conclude Irish alumina is ending up in Russian weapons. However, there is also not enough evidence to rule it out.
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According to the full report, the Irish Embassy in Stockholm received assistance from Swedish authorities in the investigation. Rusal, the Russian parent company that owns Aughinish, also operates an aluminium refinery in Sweden.
The Swedish Tax Agency recently conducted an investigation into suspicions Rusal was still controlled by sanctioned Russian oligarch and Kremlin insider Oleg Deripaska. In a judgment published on June 2nd 2026, the tax agency concluded the billionaire continues to have control of up to 70 per cent of the company’s shares.
This is contrary to an earlier deal with US authorities for Deripaska to reduce his share of Rusal to below 50 per cent in exchange for the company not being sanctioned.
Irish authorities were unable to obtain Swedish documents despite “very good co-operation with the Swedish authorities”.
The unpublished report states Swedish authorities “have been limited in their ability to share information due to the legal requirements of criminal and tax cases, whereby information is strictly confidential and not releasable”.
It added the Swedes confirmed the “primary focus of their investigation” relates to tax and the payment of funds to a “sanctioned individual” and not supply chains in Russia.
The final report from the department stated its conclusions are based on “information available as of 23 July, 2026”. However, the Swedish judgment has been available publicly since at least July 1st. Members of the public can obtain a copy of the judgment in return for an administration fee of 280 Swedish krona, which is the equivalent of €25.31.
Sweden has wide-ranging rules permitting public access to legal documents, including court filings. After the tax agency concluded Deripaska still controlled Rusal, the company’s Swedish arm launched an appeal to Stockholm’s administrative court.
This meant the judgment and the statement appeal automatically entered the public record in Sweden.
Contacted on Tuesday, the Department of Enterprise declined to comment on whether it was aware of the judgment and if any efforts were made to obtain it. It also declined to explain the rationale for not releasing the report. Government Ministers, including Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke, said last week the report could not be released as it contained commercially sensitive information.
However, the report’s preface states that commercially sensitive information received from Aughinish are not “listed or provided in this report”.
Burke also cited security concerns raised by the Attorney General, and confidential information received from other countries, as reasons for non-publication.
The report does not appear to contain any data from other countries of a confidential nature. Neither does it appear to contain information that could have a clear impact on the security of Aughinish or other sites.
“The review was not published, in line with advice provided by the Attorney General. It was given to specific authorities in confidence,” a department spokesman said in response to queries.
“The department will not comment on specifics of a confidential report.”
