Russian aluminum giant calls for Bucha war crimes investigation

[BeyondGeography]

Link to tweet

The biggest aluminium producer outside China has become the first Russian company to call publicly for an investigation into war crimes in Bucha and an early end to the conflict in Ukraine.

“Reports from the Ukrainian city of Bucha shocked us. We believe that this crime should be thoroughly investigated,” Bernard Zonneveld, Rusal’s chairman, said on the company’s website. He called for “severe” punishment for the perpetrators, “no matter how hard it may seem in the context of ongoing information war”.

Although Rusal was not directly targeted in the latest sanctions against Russia, it has lost access to raw materials from Australia, affecting a fifth of its alumina needs. It has also had to halt operations in Ukraine.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/d0ec6868-b631-11ec-8ba8-f6bf3099f5f6?shareToken=3de2c4c093f6bc7433a43e23c4c3e4fc

[anarch]

1. Aluminum Giant, is that like Iron Giant's cousin or something?

well anyway, good on them for calling for an investigation; I very much hope this is just the start, and the good people of Russia can come together and put an end to all this evil shit

[2naSalit]

2. K&R

Interesting.

I wonder how that will turn out.

[COL Mustard]

3. How do you say "Nationalized"

In Russian?

[BlueWavePsych]

4. Kick

[Tanuki]

5. That's the company that bribed Moscow Mitch to lift its sanctions by pledging

to build an aluminum plant in Eastern Kentucky.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-a-mcconnell-backed-effort-to-lift-russian-sanctions-boosted-a-kentucky-project/2019/08/13/72b26e00-b97c-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html

.. "On one side of the table sat the head of sales for Rusal, the Russian aluminum producer that would benefit most immediately from a favorable Senate vote. The U.S. government had imposed sanctions on Rusal as part of a campaign to punish Russia for “malign activity around the globe,” including attempts to sway the 2016 presidential election.

On the other side sat Craig Bouchard, an American entrepreneur who had gained favor with officials in Kentucky, the home state of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Bouchard was trying to build the first new aluminum-rolling mill in the United States in nearly four decades, in a corner of northeastern Kentucky ravaged by job losses and the opioid epidemic — a project that stood to benefit enormously if Rusal were able to get involved.
....
But the timing of their meeting shows how much a major venture in McConnell’s home state had riding on the Democratic-backed effort in January to keep sanctions in place.

By the next day, McConnell had successfully blocked the bill, despite the defection of 11 Republicans.

Within weeks, the U.S. government had formally lifted sanctions on Rusal, citing a deal with the company that reduced the ownership interest of its Kremlin-linked founder, Oleg Deripaska. And three months later, Rusal announced plans for an extraordinary partnership with Bouchard’s company, providing $200 million in capital to buy a 40 percent stake in the new aluminum plant in
Ashland, Ky. — a project Gov. Matt Bevin (R) boasted was “as significant as any economic deal ever made in the history of Kentucky.”....

[ancianita]

9. Yep.

All this buddying up with Oleg Deripaska and his 25% ownership of Rusal; looks like Kentuckians welcomed the job boost, and Mitch hasn't been concerned where Deripaska's national loyalties lie.

With McConnell's past help and Putin watching, it's not surprising the company echoes Deripaska's cautious public statement against the war in Ukraine, since they've been juke stepping sanctions, 2022 sanctions are hitting them.

[Martin68]

6. I'm not sure this is a good thing. The assumption could be that the atrocities were committed by

Ukranians (to frame Russians or punish collaborators). An investigation by Russia will most likely find whatever they are expecting to find. Walking the Party Line.

[jmowreader]

7. Either that...

…or the sanctions against Russia are seriously damaging this company’s finances. They figure if they can get Putin locked up and the war ended, they can start selling metal to companies outside Russia again.

[Martin68]

10. I hope you're right.

[Nevilledog]

8. Came here to say just that.....