When President Vladimir Putin gathered Russia’s top businessmen in the Kremlin for a wartime whip round on Thursday, there was no ambiguity about what was happening: the only way to have industrial wealth in Russia is to be aligned with the state’s objectives. 

According to The Bell, figures including longtime Putin ally Oleg Deripaska agreed to help bankroll the war in Ukraine. 

Despite EU sanctions targeting Deripaska as a key enabler of the Kremlin, Ireland continues to host Aughinish Alumina, a Limerick refinery owned by Rusal, the industrial group in which he owns a quarter of the shares. An investigation last week by The Irish Times and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project suggests that aluminium oxide, known as “alumina,” produced there feeds into supply chains that may ultimately reach dozens of Russian arms manufacturers. 

Exports of alumina from Ireland to Russia have surged since the 2022 invasion, rising from $243 million to $376 million despite the broader sanctions regime. 

Legally, none of this breaches EU rules. But that is exactly the problem.

There is a clear moral sleight of hand at work. Deripaska is under sanctions, his name has been blacklisted and assets targeted. Yet the corporate structures tied to his influence continue to operate. That distinction may be legal, but it undermines the law’s purpose, creating moral fudge that lets governments claim compliance while........

© The Moscow Times