Alcoa might sell one of two plants in Russia
MOSCOW. Nov 24 (Interfax) - CJSC Lainen has filed an application with the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) to acquire 100% of shares in CJSC Alcoa Metallurg Rus, which will require another two months to review, the Russian regulator said in a statement.
Alcoa owns two plants in Russia - Belaya-Kalitva Metallurgical Production Association (called Alcoa Metallurg Rus since July 2009) and Samara Metals Plant (Alcoa SMZ since July 2009), which the U.S. aluminum company bought from Rusal in 2005 for $257 million.
National daily Kommersant, citing sources, reported on Monday that Lainen represents the interests of the shareholders of the Stupino Metallurgical Plant (SMK), which manufactures components from the alloys of various metals. SMK is owned by the Federal Property Agency (15.27% of shares) and seven offshore firms (84%), including Linenhall Overseas Ltd of the British Virgin Islands (18.05%), the company's 2013 report shows.
Prior to 2012, SMK was controlled by the entities of Russpetsstal, a liquidated unit of state corporation Rostec, the SPARK-Interfax database and Supreme Arbitration Court materials show. The nominal holder of SMK shares is Bank Rossiya .
Kommersant reported its industry sources as saying that SMK "is still close to Rostec," but Rostec said the company "is not within the state corporation's perimeter."
The paper's sources said that Alcoa is selling one of its plants in Russia due to higher requirements for profitability; the plant has been operating at a loss for the past five years and this is not related to U.S. sanctions against Russia. In October, the company announced the sale of 50.3% of shares in its Mt. Holly plant in the United States and stake in Jamaican bauxite and alumina producer Jamalco.
However, there have also been issues related to the sanctions against Russia. In May, for example, the company said that Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld's visit to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was cancelled in line with the requirements of the U.S. government.
It was also reported earlier that Alcoa dropped out of a project with Rusnano to manufacture aluminum drilling pipes due to the difficult political situation.