SSU: Derypaska's people tried to illegally export alumina worth over ₴2 billion from Mykolaiv during the war
-
- Svitlana Ivanchenko
-
•
-
16:35, 29 January, 2025
Almost 500,000 tonnes of bauxite and alumina belonging to Russian oligarch Oleh Derypaska were illegally exported from the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant in 2023.
According to the Security Service of Ukraine, the court seized industrial products worth over 2.1 billion hryvnias.
It is noted that bauxite and manufactured alumina were stored at the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, which has now been nationalised.
«According to the case file, the seized bauxite and alumina belonged to a 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 Derypaska's Russian enterprises. In early 2023, Ukrainian law enforcement officers uncovered the fraud and blocked the shipment of these raw materials to», the SSU said.
The SSU investigators served Derypaska with a notice of suspicion in absentia under several articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, including for financing Russia's war against Ukraine.
Earlier, all of the oligarch's plants in Ukraine were nationalised. As reported, Oleh Derypaska, the former owner of «Mykolaiv Alumina Plant», called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine.
The oligarch has been under US sanctions since 2018 because of his ties to Putin. In 2022, the UK also imposed sanctions against him over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
See also the article NikVesti: Trapped in stagnation: what are the chances of Mykolaiv Alumina Plant after nationalisation?
Nationalisation of Mykolaiv Alumina Plant
On 16 February 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled on the nationalisation of the NGZ. However, the lawyers defending the interests of Mykolaiv Alumina Plant filed six appeals against the decision of the first instance court. Finally, on 21 June last year, the Appeals Chamber of the High Anti-Corruption Court dismissed the appeals against the decision of the first instance court to confiscate the corporate rights of Mykolaiv Alumina Plant. Thus, the decision to confiscate one hundred per cent of the plant's capital and related companies became final.
A year after the court ruling, in March 2024, Ukraine completed the nationalisation of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant (MGZ), which was confiscated from Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.
According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the State Property Fund of Ukraine became the sole owner of the enterprise on 20 March 2024.
It should be noted that MHP actually stopped its operations at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and the company's corporate rights were under arrest since June 2022. In May 2023, the head of Mykolaiv Regional Administration Vitalii Kim said that the plant had only 300 employees out of the 6,000 that were there before the war. They are mainly engaged in security and maintenance of sludge fields.
As you know, LLC «Mykolaiv Alumina Plant» is one of the largest air polluters in the region. In 2021, the company emitted 2672.7 tonnes of pollutants into the atmosphere, which is 140.9 tonnes more than in 2020. The main pollutants emitted by the enterprise in 2021 were nitrogen compounds — 1345.1 tonnes, substances in the form of suspended solids — 756.6 tonnes, carbon monoxide — 316.7 tonnes, metals and their compounds — 234.8 tonnes.
Vitalii Kim, the head of the Mykolaiv-based UPA, wants the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant to produce raw materials for aluminium production in Europe after it becomes state-owned.
Currently, 400 of the company's 5,000 employees work at the plant. Their main task is to maintain the two sludge pits located on the territory of the plant.
Recent news about: Business and Economy