700 jobs at Limerick firm safe after US vote
Around 700 jobs at Aughinish Alumina in Limerick are safe for now following a US senate vote to allow sanctions on its owner to be lifted — but the political fallout is not over after the House of Representatives voted the opposite way.
Fears were raised for the jobs in Limerick this week as senators from both parties indicated their intention to override the US treasury’s decision to lift sanctions imposed on companies such as Aughinish owner Rusal, which is controlled by the Russian billionaire Oleg Derispaska through another company, En+.
Mr Derispaska had been targeted by the US administration over perceived close ties to the Kremlin, and companies linked to him had suffered in the fallout as sanctions were imposed last April.
However, treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin said this week that the intent was not to punish the companies, but to exert pressure on Mr Deripaska.
The Russian oligarch has agreed to relinquish controlling shares in companies involved as part of the deal with the treasury department.
He will personally remain under sanctions.
The senate’s threatened rebellion to defy treasury never materialised this week, leading to relief for the Aughinish workers.
The company has been described as one of Limerick’s best employers, with 700 jobs and hundreds more indirectly tied to it.
The House of Representatives bucked the senate result, voting overwhelmingly to keep sanctions on the firms, with a majority of President Donald Trump’s Republican Party joining opposition Democrats in the vote.
Despite the fact that the vote is merely symbolic, it shows the fallout from the controversy is far from over.
New revelations about Mr Deripaska’s ties to the Kremlin have been coming out in recent weeks, as well as his links to Mr Trump’s former presidential campaign chairman Paul Manafort, now a convicted felon.
Key supporters of Mr Trump in the House of Representatives, including House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican whip Steve Scalise, were among those who voted to keep sanctions in place.
House majority leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, called on Mr Mnuchin to delay ending the sanctions in light of this week’s votes in the House and Senate.
Despite Mr Hoyer’s request, sanctions against Rusal and other companies could be lifted by the end of this month.
