{"id":376334,"date":"2026-04-01T10:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T10:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376334\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T10:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T10:59:11","slug":"taoiseach-concerned-at-reports-aughinish-plant-supplying-russian-war-effort-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/376334\/","title":{"rendered":"Taoiseach concerned at reports Aughinish plant supplying \u2018Russian war effort\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> has said he is \u201cconcerned\u201d about media reports that raw materials produced in a Co Limerick<\/a> plant were ultimately supplying \u201cthe Russian<\/a> war effort\u201d.<\/p>\n

An Irish Times investigation<\/a>, carried out in co-operation with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, found that the Aughinish Alumina<\/a> plant in Co Limerick is shipping vast amounts of alumina to smelters in Russia where it is used to make aluminium which is then sold to a trading company, ASK, that supplies dozens of Russian arms manufacturers.<\/p>\n

The findings have put pressure on the Government, given the Republic has lobbied Washington and Brussels to exempt the Russian-owned plant from sanctions targeting Moscow over the past decade. <\/p>\n

Rusal, the company that owns the Aughinish plant, has deep connections to the Kremlin and Moscow\u2019s arms industry. <\/p>\n

The raw material it produces in Co Limerick, alumina, is not subject to EU sanctions aimed at hobbling Russia\u2019s ability to wage its war in Ukraine<\/a>, in part because the plant is a major supplier to European industry, as well as an exporter to Russia. <\/p>\n

From the Shannon to Siberia: How alumina from a Limerick refinery enters Russia\u2019s weapons supply chain<\/p>\n

\"occrpAughinish Alumina in Co Limerick supplies vast amounts of raw materials to Russian aluminium smelters, according to a new investigation.The project, by The Irish Times and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), draws on confidential documents, customs data and transport records along with satellite imagery and financial records. Read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, David O\u2019Sullivan, the European Commission\u2019s sanctions envoy, said sanctions on alumina may need to be considered, which would make it illegal to sell the material to Russia. <\/p>\n

Alumina supplied by the Aughinish plant is used to make aluminium that is then sold to a trading company, ASK, that supplies dozens of Russian arms manufacturers, according to leaked financial documents.<\/p>\n

Speaking in Warsaw on Tuesday, the Taoiseach said the Government had been one of the \u201cstrongest advocates\u201d for EU-level economic sanctions on Moscow. <\/p>\n

Martin rejected the accusation the Government was speaking out of both sides of its mouth by supporting Ukraine but also lobbying against any sanctions targeting Aughinish Alumina, a major employer in the midwest. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe backed Ukraine very strongly \u2026 It\u2019s real, our backing, our support, both financial, both in terms of welcoming Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war, and in terms of our support at the European level,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlumina was not sanctioned, but we are concerned about the reports that \u2026 some of that material is ending up to help the Russian war effort, and we will review that,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

There was \u201calways a balance to be struck\u201d when devising economic sanctions so that they hurt Russia but didn\u2019t overly \u201cpunish\u201d Europe and European industry, he said. <\/p>\n

Alumina supplied by the Co Limerick plant was an important product in the \u201cwider European Union supply chain\u201d, with other countries dependent on the material, Martin said. <\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il leader was speaking in Warsaw after meeting Polish prime minister Donald Tusk. <\/p>\n

Aughinish Alumina has said it operates \u201cin strict compliance with all applicable European Union laws, including sanctions, export control measures and trade regulations\u201d and it has \u201cimplemented a robust sanctions compliance and due diligence framework covering its entire supply chain\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Government had earlier said the findings of The Irish Times investigation will be reviewed by the Department for Foreign Affairs and the Department of Enterprise. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin has said he is \u201cconcerned\u201d about media reports that raw materials produced in a Co…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[163884,61,60,1396,1843,43,3589,9688],"class_list":{"0":"post-376334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ireland","8":"tag-aughinish-alumina","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-limerick","12":"tag-micheal-martin","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-russia","15":"tag-ukraine-crisis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}