activists over the omission of them from an earlier round of economic measures announced by the federal government. Accordingly, Canberra was compelled to impose sanctions on the two, leaving Rio Tinto scrambling to understand its legal obligations under the new regulations, since the sanctions did not include the corporate vehicles through which Deripaska and Vekselberg hold their interests in the Australian assets.
The two oligarchs are shareholders of En+ Group, a London-listed resources company which owns Rusal, the world’s second-largest aluminium producer. Rusal, on the other hand, owns 20 per cent of Queensland Alumina Limited, while the rest is owned by Rio Tinto. Now with the pair being sanctioned by the Aussie government, Rio Tinto has taken full control of the refinery, the company said in a statement. “As a result of the Australian government’s sanction measures, Rio Tinto has taken on 100% of the capacity and governance of Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) until further notice,” the statement read. “Our focus remains on ensuring the continued safe operation of QAL, as a significant employer and contributor to the local Gladstone and Queensland economies.”
Last month, En+ also released a statement saying Deripaska receive any financial benefit from his minority holding in En+, Rusal or any part of the group, and that he is “completely blocked from receiving dividends”. In the case of Vekselberg, he is indirectly a minority beneficiary Rusal but “does not have any influence on Rusal’s operations,” a spokesperson for Rusal said.
Despite the recent announcement made by Rio Tinto, activists remain concerned over their links to the Gladstone-based refinery. “…until Rio Tinto provides further details, we remain concerned that Deripaska and Vekselberg may still financially benefit from Queensland Alumina,” Dan Gocher, from the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, said.
