Several of the European Parliament’s political groupings seem set to back a motion calling for a ban on exports of alumina to Russia, upping the pressure for sanctions targeting Aughinish Alumina.
Fianna Fáil’s four MEPs will abstain in a parliament vote in Strasbourg on Wednesday, advocating for a “full ban” on the exports of alumina to Russia.
The resolution on Ukraine is non-binding so endorsing it would be a symbolic move by the European Parliament, though one that will add pressure on Brussels and Dublin to respond to revelations that point towards Aughinish Alumina’s downstream role supplying the Russian war effort.
An Irish Times investigation detailed how the Co Limerick plant was exporting vast amounts of raw material to smelters in Russia, which is sold to a company who supplies aluminium to Russian arms manufactures.
RM Block
The Shannon estuary refinery is owned by Russian metals giant Rusal, which Swedish tax authorities recently concluded remains under the control of sanctioned oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
Fine Gael’s four MEPs, Sean Kelly, Maria Walsh, Regina Doherty and Nina Carberry, will back the amended motion calling for a ban on the sale of alumina to Russia.
From the Shannon to Siberia: How alumina from a Limerick refinery enters Russia’s weapons supply chain
- Aughinish Alumina in Co Limerick supplies vast amounts of raw materials to Russian aluminium smelters, according to an investigation by The Irish Times and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP).
- Read the full investigation here.
Fianna Fáil’s Billy Kelleher, Barry Cowen, Barry Andrews, and Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, are expected to abstain in the vote. The party’s European grouping, Renew, which includes centrist and liberal parties, was planning to support the alumina ban motion, one senior source said.
The European People’s Party (EPP), the largest grouping in the parliament, which includes Fine Gael, was finalising its position in an internal meeting on Tuesday.
The centre-right grouping was expected to support the amendment calling for the EU to cut off the flow of alumina to Russia, one EPP source said.
A large majority of the second largest grouping in the parliament, the centre-left socialists and Democrats, will support the call for an export ban. MEPs in the Greens and the Left grouping are also expected to support the amendments.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm that proposes laws, oversees the bloc’s regime of economic sanctions targeting Russia.
It is expected the Brussels-based administration will revisit the possibility of including alumina exports in its next round of proposed sanctions.
A parliament motion calling for sanctions prohibiting the sale of alumina from European companies to Russia will increase the pressure on the commission to propose action against Aughinish Alumina.
In a statement, Kelleher said any sanctions should not hurt Europe more than Russia.
“The EU relies on alumina produced in Aughinish Alumina for its own industrial activity. We should not cut off our nose to spite our face,” he said.
Kelleher’s Ireland South constituency includes Limerick, where Aughinish Alumina employs several hundred people.
“I can see why people would want to ban the export of alumina to Russia. It’s the obvious and emotional thing to do, but we cannot do something that damages the EU more in the long run,” he said.
