A leading Irish metals refinery is part of an international aluminium supply chain that appears to conclude with shipments to arms producers feeding the Kremlin’s war machine in Ukraine, leaked records and public data suggests. The rising trade with Russia does not appear to breach sanctions law and can be interrogated via publicly available shipping records. A spokesperson for Aughinish said: “We operate in strict compliance with all applicable EU laws, including sanctions, export control measures and trade regulations. The facility was acquired by the commodity trader Glencore, which then joined forces with the Russian aluminium groups Rusal and SUAL in 2006 to create the “world’s biggest aluminium producer”. Alumina is also not a sanctioned good therefore its export to other countries, including Russia, is not restricted.

Source: The Guardian March 24, 2026 06:30 UTC