Rusal, a Russian aluminum company, has invested heavily in a mill planned by North American company Braidy Industries for Eastern Kentucky – and according to a report by the House of Representatives on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, Rusal is a “proxy for the Kremlin. “
In 2019, journalist Morgan Watkins reported in the Louisville Courier Journal, Rusal agreed to invest $ 200 million in Braidy’s mill. And the two-part report of the First Chamber, released on August 18, describes the ties of Russian oligarch and Rusal owner Oleg Deripaska to the Kremlin.
According to the report, “Deripaska’s companies, including Rusal, are proxies to the Kremlin, including for Russian government efforts, economic measures and diplomatic relations.”
Watkins notes that according to a report from the Securities and Exchange Commission that Braidy submitted in June, Rusal had provided $ 75 million for the mill on December 31, 2019, but had ended contributions until Braidy was able to secure another $ 300 million financing.
The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on Rusal, but Kentucky’s two Republican senators – sen. Rand Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell – have voted against holding the sanctions. Watkins notes that on Aug. 19, the Kentucky Democratic Party “questioned McConnell’s decision to question the lifting of sanctions on Rusal in light of Rusal’s identification as a proxy for the Kremlin’s report to the lower house. the First Chamber. “
