
Ireland’s Finance Minister Paschal O’Donohue met US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin in Washington to discuss the future of Aughinish Alumina, which was put into uncertainty after the U.S. sanctions on Rusal.
“He was going with a very simple message that it (Aughinish) was of strategic importance not only to Ireland but to Europe and the broader aluminium industry,” Minister of State Patrick O’Donovan told the local media after the meeting.
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He said that the discussions on Aughinish and Limerick have been very positive. The US authorities again postponed activating any sanctions until January 21. The US authorities announced sanctions against Oleg Deripaska’s EN+ Group and Rusal, the aluminium company that owns Aughinish Alumina.
No agreed compromise has yet been reached between EN+ Group and the US authorities despite several extension of the activation of the sanctions. Minister O’Donovan, however, remained optimistic this week that a solution would be soon be achieved.
The minister is confident that the issue of Aughinish Alumina and its significance in Ireland and Europe is understood by the government in Washington.
There are reports that US Senator Bob Menendez had written to Mr Mnuchin last week urging the treasury department not to waive or remove sanctions on Rusal and EN+ as long as Mr Deripaska exercises enough control over them.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control and the US Treasury is currently dealing with the matter. Minister O’Donovan stressed that to get an opportunity to discuss the issue with US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin is “of huge importance”.
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