Russia’s oil giant Rusal, affected by the sanctions, has filed a lawsuit in Australian Federal Court against Rio Tinto for a Gladstone refinery.
The CEO of Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto miner Jakob Stausholm said in April that the company was in the process of ending trade relations with Russian companies.
The company said it had taken over 100% of the production and management of Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL), to the extent that 20% of owner Rusal responds.
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QAL operates the Gladstone refinery, where bauxite is transformed into alumina.
Rusal companies, led by Alumina and Bauxite Company (ABC), have filed documents in Federal Court arguing that QAL used an “intervention procedure” to remove Russian interests from the Queensland refinery business because of the sanctions. Rusal companies, led by Alumina and Bauxite Company (ABC), have filed documents in Federal Court arguing that QAL used an “intervention procedure” to remove Russian interests from the Queensland refinery business due to sanctions.
The court documents refer to Russian citizen oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who owns 25.6% of the shares of United Company Rusal and Viktor Vekselberg, who owns eight percent.
Both are affected by sanctions imposed by Australia in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
ABC is asking the court to restore its original rights and privileges under the agreement.
The company argues in court documents that the necessary circumstances do not exist to validly activate the intervention provisions.
As a result, QAL’s action is “invalid and a breach of its obligations to ABC” under the ongoing agreement, according to ABC’s statement filed in the Victoria Federal Court registry.
Even with sanctions, ABC says that if QAL accepted the delivery of its bauxite and refined it for ABC to export to third parties outside of Russia, neither Deripaska nor Vekselberg nor Russia would benefit.