Rusal registers new overseas assets holding company in Qatar

MOSCOW. June 29 (Interfax) - Rusal has changed the jurisdiction of the holding company for its overseas assets from Cyprus to Qatar, sources familiar with the situation told Interfax.

According to the company card on the page of the Qatar Financial Center, the company has charter capital of $4 billion. The authorized charter capital, which is the maximum number of shares that a company can issue according to the charter, is fixed at $10 billion.

Vladimir Runov, who was director of Rusal's tax policy department, heads the company, and Roman Khaev, who is on the list of Rusal's affiliated persons, is the director.

AL Plus Holdings LLC was first mentioned on the list of Rusal's affiliated entities for the second half of 2022.

The name AL+ was supposed to become the brand of Rusal itself after the spin-off of production assets with a higher carbon footprint into a new company, as announced in May 2021. Rusal explained that, "The new name better reflects the company's achievements, goals and values, and the move meets the strategic interests of all shareholders". The deal, whose significance was to reveal the business's green component, has not occurred to date, and Sual Partners has blocked the change in Rusal's name.

Qatar-based AL Plus is not involved in the spin-off of low-carbon assets, two sources familiar with the process told Interfax. The purpose of creating the company is to transfer Rusal's overseas assets from Cyprus to Qatar's jurisdiction, one of the sources explained.

Cyprus has supported the European Union sanctions imposed against Russia and has a "zero tolerance" policy toward the country's citizens and companies that assist in circumventing the sanctions. Rusal is not subject to sanctions, though Oleg Deripaska, who founded the company, has been on the United States' Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List since 2018. Deripaska does not participate in Rusal management as per agreement with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

According to another source, this concerns expanding Rusal's presence in the region, which is part of an ongoing process to optimize the overseas assets structure that does not affect Rusal's Russian assets, the Interfax source added.

In early March last year, Rusal's parent company, En+ Group, announced the possibility of spinning off the international business of the aluminum company. "The strategic review is at a preliminary stage, and any action plan will be subject to further review and discussion with the relevant regulators and key stakeholders," En+ said at the time.

According to Bloomberg, En+, which controls a 57% stake in Rusal, was considering spinning off Rusal's international assets into a separate company controlled by En+ management and non-Russian investors.

It was planned to spin off Rusal's international alumina, bauxite, and aluminum assets located in Africa, Australia, and Europe into the new company. Until 2007, most of the enterprises belonged to the Swiss trader Glencore, which brought them into the Rusal united company, becoming its founder along with Oleg Deripaska's Russian Aluminum and Viktor Vekselberg and partners' Sual.

Rusal's international assets include the Kubal aluminum smelter in Sweden; Aughinish alumina, Ireland; EurAllumina, Italy; QAL, Australia, 20% Rusal, 80% Rio Tinto; Friguia, Guinea; Windalco, Jamaica; Compagnie Des Bauxites De Kindia and Friguia production entities, Guinea; Dian Dian, Guinea; and BCGI Guyana.

Mining assets in Guinea and Jamaica, as well as the large Aughinish alumina refinery, provide Rusal's Russian refineries with raw materials, and are part of the company's long-term development plan. Particularly, the company intends to process bauxite from the Guinean enterprises at the alumina production plant in the Leningrad Region, as announced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) 2023. Rusal at the time announced plans to invest around 400 billion rubles in alumina production and seaport infrastructure in the Leningrad Region by signing an agreement with the Leningrad Region authorities.