The Mykolaiv Alumina Plant is preparing to resume work

The Mykolaiv Alumina Plant (MAP), formerly owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, is preparing to resume work. This was announced by the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration (RMA) Vitaly Kim, informs Ukrinform.

According to Kim, the owner’s appeal is currently under consideration, then management will visit the enterprise, and after a certain time it should be operational. Today, about 300 people work at the MAP, compared to 6,000 before the war. The workers are mainly engaged in the protection and maintenance of the sludge fields.

The head of the Mykolayiv RMA also noted that during the transition of the plant from state ownership to private ownership, certain problems with sludge fields may arise, the safe operation of which requires serious financial costs.

In July 2022, Perechynsky Court of Zakarpattia region arrested corporate rights of two companies that are part of Mykolaiv Alumina Plant LLC, and the Zakarpattia Court of Appeal confirmed this court decision. At the end of September 2022, the Kyiv Court of Appeal confirmed the arrest rights of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant.

At the beginning of March 2022, MAP temporarily suspended production. he managing company RusAl explains this decision by the inevitable logistical and transport problems on the Black Sea and adjacent territories. The beneficiary of the Mykolaiv Alumina Plant is the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, against whom the United States imposed sanctions due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. He is also included in the Ukrainian sanctions list approved by the National Security and Defense Council.

Mykolaiv Alumina Plant produces 1.8 million tons of products per year. This is RusAl’s second largest alumina asset, which provided 20% of the company’s total alumina production.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in March the State Property Fund of Ukraine (FSMU) announced its intention to expose MAP for privatization in the second-third quarter of 2023. Before the war, the company’s assets were estimated at $1 billion. At that time, the plant had not yet legally entered the SPFU. At the same time, the foundation worked on restarting the plant.