Union analysing effect on Guyana’s bauxite workers – Lewis

US sanctions on Russian tycoon
…Rusal’s shares plunged 41.8% on world market

As Rusal’s stocks continue to crash on the world market, President of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU) Lincoln Lewis said the Union is in the process of analysing the effects of the United States sanctions against Russian business tycoon Oleg Deripaska, who is the main owner of the EN+ conglomerate, which is the co-owner of Rusal.

Rusal is one of the largest aluminum producers in the world and has operations in Guyana in the form of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI), employing over 500 persons. The Government is yet to officially make a statement about the implications of the imposed sanctions on the future of the bauxite industry and efforts to contact Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman proved futile. On Tuesday, when Foreign Affairs Minister Carl Greenidge was asked to comment on the matter, he said he had no comment thus far on the matter.
According to reports, the sanctions against Rusal have caused aluminum prices to surge since the sanctions freeze all of the company’s assets under the US jurisdiction. Additionally, the trading price for benchmark aluminum on the London Metal Exchange hit its highest level in more than a month. Reuters reported that as of Monday Rusal’s shares plunged as much as 41.8 per cent as the implications of the sanctions are being realised.
Deripaska has also been charged in US special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation regarding Russia’s involvement in the 2016 US presidential election.
In light of all this information, Lewis told Guyana Times that after he got wind of the sanctions, a meeting was called to discuss the implications but they had to rely on just reports, hence the discussions came to a standstill.
“Because we just had media reports, we were not able to have a fruitful meeting so this morning (Tuesday) we wrote to the United States Embassy asking for a copy of the order so that we have all the information and we can analyse the situation,” he said.
“We may get the order sometime during the week but at the end of the week, we will be able to say what the impact would be on the bauxite industry and the people involved in it,” Lewis added.
Meanwhile, a senior management official at BCGI said they are yet to receive information from their Moscow headquarters about the implications of the sanction on the local sector. The manager said they are monitoring the situation since Friday, but thus far, operations are progressing normally.
The US Treasury Department in a statement on Friday announced the sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, 12 companies they either owned or controlled and 17 senior Government officials, who Washington said were profiting from the Russian Government’s engagement in “a range of malign activities” around the world.
“Russian oligarchs and elites who profit from this corrupt system will no longer be insulated from the consequences of their Government’s destabilising activities,” the US statement added.
The Treasury Department warned that US entities would be “generally prohibited” from dealings with the persons and firms on the sanctions list, while added that companies outside the United States could face sanctions for “knowingly facilitating significant transactions for or on behalf of” the sanctioned entities.
A report published by Reuters on Friday said the US Government’s decision to include Deripaska on its sanctions blacklist will reverberate around the world because his business empire has a global footprint and counts major multinationals as partners.
Deripaska, estimated by Forbes magazine, is to have a net worth of $6.7 billion, is the main owner of the conglomerate EN+, which in turn is the co-owner of some of the world’s biggest metals producers, Rusal and Nornickel.
According to the international news agency, Deripaska’s inclusion on the US sanctions list could potentially create complications too for companies with which he does business; they include German car giant Volkswagen and commodities trader Glencore.
Rusal, Reuters reported, had said it regretted its inclusion on the US sanctions list, adding that its advisors were studying the situation. Hong Kong-listed Rusal is one of the world’s biggest aluminum producers. It says exports to the United States account for over 10 per cent of its output.
Rusal owns assets in Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Nigeria, Guyana, and Guinea. It owns a stake in Australian QAL, the world’s top alumina refinery.