A new cargo of Russian aluminum was unloaded in Norway

Before Christmas, about four thousand tons of aluminum from Rusal, owned by Oleg Deripaska, arrived at the port of Oslo. This is the second time since the invasion of Ukraine.

The general cargo ship “Kadre” arrived at the port of Oslo on December 17. Picture taken while unloading aluminum ingots from Rusal. Photo: Vetle Halvorsen, E24

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Less than 3 hours

On the night of Saturday, December 17, the Maltese-registered vessel “Cutre” slipped into the Oslo Fjord after a five-day voyage from St. Petersburg, Russia.

The ship was loaded with about four thousand tons of aluminum from Rusal. The aluminum giant was founded by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who still owns a large stake in the company.

This is the first Russian ship loading of aluminum to Oslo since March 2022, the Port of Oslo confirms to E24.

Only four cargoes arrived in Oslo last year. Two of those took place before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the final came in March.

Read on

Report: Exports to Russia increased after the invasion

E24 could not confirm where the aluminum is to be supplied in Norway. The operator who unloaded the cargo at the port did not want to comment on customer relations and would not comment on where the cargo went.

Not allowed

When the Russia-registered oligarch-owned ship “Lazurite” was unloaded in Oslo on March 9, Benteler’s target in Raufos was.

After “Lazurite”, Red and Venstre proposed special Norwegian punitive measures, and asked that Norwegian ports be closed to Russian ships.

It was May Norwegian ports are closed to Russian shipsAfter Norway joined the EU’s bans, except for fishing vessels.

Aluminum blocks of this type were loaded in Oslo before Christmas by a Malta-registered ship. The photo was taken in 2018 at the Rusalin smelter in Krasnoyarsk. Photo: ILYA NAYMUSHIN / Reuters

The cargo vessel “Katre” is registered in Malta and owned by an Estonian company Hansa ShippingIt is owned by the Estonian holding and investment company Baltic Maritime Logistics Group (BMLG).

So it is not subject to any restrictions.

Although Deripaska still owns 45 percent of Rusal’s parent company En+, it is not a Russian burden.

However, Deripaska is personally listed on sanctions lists by both the European Union and the United States.

The facts about Oleg Deripaska, Rusal and sanctions

Oleg Deripaska is one of several Russian oligarchs under sanctions after the war in Ukraine. The US already did that in 2018, while he ended up on the EU and Great Britain’s sanctions list after the invasion.
Norway has introduced largely the same sanctions as the EU, including a list of sanctioned persons and entities. This means their funds are frozen.
Deripaska is a major shareholder of aluminum producer Rusal, through the company N+. N+ owns more than half of Rusal. Deripaska again holds about 45 percent of En+.
Swiss raw materials giant Glencore owns more than 10 percent of En+.
No restrictions have been introduced on the import of Russian aluminum to Norway.
Rusal was not among the companies sanctioned by the European Union and Norway. Sanctions against Deripaska apply to him personally.

Red: – logical failure

Rødt chairman Bjørnar Moxnes now wants to repeat the call for Norway’s own measures against such shiploads.

– One is legal, and the other is what people think about the fact that an oligarch like Oleg Deripaska, who is very close to the Kremlin and the FSP, earns even more by selling aluminum to Norway and unloading it in Norwegian ports. Moxnes tells E24.

The US had already blacklisted Deripaska in April 2018, which also hit Rusal and parent company En+ hard.

Read on

And not just to Oslo: 4,000 tonnes of Russian aluminum was on its way to Hydro in Carmay.

After months of negotiations, Deripaska agreed to reduce his stake from 70 percent to 44.95 percent, so that sanctions against the companies could be lifted. Reuters.

– I think there is a logical flaw, Moxnes says that many people are allowed the owner behind the company, but he is not making good money.

– In that case, we believe we need a clear explanation from the government.

Rødt chairman Bjørnar Moxnes is urging the government to consider its own measures beyond the EU’s common sanctions. Here’s from a protest against high electricity prices outside Storting in January last year. Photo: Javad Barza / NTB

The government has previously said that its own sanctions against Russia and Russians are not appropriate because the sanctions law concerns them multilaterally.

– Nevertheless, Norway carried out its own punitive measures, such as freezing the oil fund’s investments, and when we said that licensing Russian companies on the Norwegian continental shelf was out of the question, says Moxnes.

While the government refuses to fund oil funds to put money into companies linked to Putin’s circle, that’s for all practical purposes a sanction, he points out.

– It last mentioned E24 Russian aluminum in Norway, but nothing happened. Why is it even more important?

– This is important because the Russian regime is run by a few powerful oligarchs. It resembles a kind of mafia state, where the wealthy are employed by the regime, and the regime leans on them with power and wealth.

– That’s why it’s important to target sanctions against these oligarchs and try to cut off their profit flow as much as possible.

On 17 December 2022, three aluminum blocks were unloaded from the cargo ship “Kadre” in the port of Oslo. Photo: Vetle Halvorsen, E24

The Foreign Ministry is asking Moxnes to reconsider his position

A request for Moxnes’ statements and a clear stand has been sent to the Ministry of External Affairs. State Secretary Evind Vad Petersson Rødt believes the leader should go himself.

– Norway is a state governed by the rule of law. The government has no legal authority to introduce economic sanctions on its own, particularly in Norway. This does not prevent us from preemptively freezing the oil fund’s investments or making decisions about companies on the Norwegian continental shelf, but this is different from what Moxnes proposed, Petersen writes in an email.

He points out that Norway, on an independent basis, has chosen to end EU sanctions against Russia with a few national adaptations.

– So far, European bans only apply to certain aluminum products. At the same time, the Secretary of State writes that the port ban applies to Russian cargo ships in both the EU and Norway.

The government doesn’t regulate business extensively, but many companies have reported taking decisions based on their own reputation, he further explains.

– If Moxnes is interested in supporting Ukraine and reacting to Russia’s brutal war of aggression, I would urge him to reconsider Rødt’s rejection of military aid to Ukraine, writes Petersson.

– The most important request of Ukraine is that we continue to support their righteous self-defense struggle with the supply of weapons.