Poor tortoise. When it rains it pours and when it pours, it pours pure caa caa. Mitch McConnell went to considerable lengths in 2019 to get sanctions lifted on Russian company Rusal, and then surprise, surprise, Rusal announced its commitment to invest $200 million in an aluminum plant in Kentucky. Now, the cat’s out of the bag about Russian interference in the 2020 election and Joe Biden isn’t having it, and Oleg Derispaka who owns En+, the majority stakeholder in Rusal, has evidently decided he’s blown enough cash McConnell’s direction, so Rusal is cutting bait. Bloomberg:

The Russian company backing an aluminum project in Kentucky said it’s suspending investments as it waits for U.S. partners to raise funds, dealing a new setback to the billion-dollar-plus mill that was supposed to be completed last year

United Co. Rusal International PJSC announced the move on Unity Aluminum, formerly known as Braidy Industries, in a call on Wednesday. Rusal has so far poured $65 million into the venture, which local officials have been counting on to bring hundreds of high-paying jobs to the region.

The funding freeze is the latest in a series of twists, including a battle for control of the mill that led to the ousting last year of Braidy’s chief executive officer, and questions over the timing when the U.S. lifted sanctions on Rusal. The plan announced in 2017 was for a $1.3 billion rolling mill to meet growing demand for the metal from the automotive, packaging and aerospace markets.

Look on the positive side, Mitch. You’ve still got bourbon and you can bet on the horses. This won’t be the first or last fall out between Russians and Republicans, watch.

Help keep the site running, consider supporting.

15 COMMENTS

  1. I KNEW this was an empty promise. Ha ha! It was only done to try to get McConnell re-elected because Putin loved how Trump and McConnell were tearing the US apart. Mission accomplished with regard to McConnell, so no need to keep the promise now.

  2. Deripaska wants to get everything he has out of the US before he’s indicted for helping Roger Stone “advise” the former guy with Russian disinfo.

  3. Oh dear…and let us also remember that Mitch’s wife is looking mighty good for a few criminal charges of her own during her time as Transportation Secretary. The fallout of getting too close to Trump continues.

  4. Well, McConnell couldn’t deliver the orange one. So Russia said what good are you. There’s bound to be more money somewhere else. 60 million down the tubes is chump change. Lots of states have places to build plants. Hell Montana wide open and will remind them of the Homeland. And hell Canada untouched market.

    • Counter argument: one does not get to where 60 million is chump change without being both careful and jealously guarding the horde one sits upon. They are therefore careful where they spread their cash to. Conclusion: neither Montana nor Canada has what Deripaska needs, powerful, willing pawns. Nor are their other options getting any better. I therefore look for Russia to become a colder version of the Middle East when the oil market dries up sufficiently, which is inevitable.

  5. See what happens when McConnell, Graham and other Repubs are investigated for taking bribes from Oleg Deripaskas henchmen to drop sanctions against Oleg that Obama hit him with.The rats feeling the heat as their ship goes up in flames!!

  6. One of the devious Russky’s main goals in setting up this boondoggle aluminum mill was to infiltrate the US military, by supplying metal needed for building such beloved playthings as aircraft. Of course Moscow Mitch knew this but wasn’t at all disturbed by it. When it’s a choice between personal profit and national security, we all know which way this shameless old traitor will go.

  7. Hilarious! I was waiting for this to happen! Mitch looked pretty good to his people in that state when he got this big deal with the help of his wife and her family. Now they’ll see the truth.

    • Not all of us in Kentucky are brain dead. We have been battling this cretin and Randy Paul [Tea Party] for going on 30 yrs now. The coal companies have had a grip on my state for over 50 years. Then the con man started backing these companies in strip mining. Leaving thousands upon thousands of devastated mountain tops, polluted and barren of life. Moscow Mitch promises the poor in the mountainous areas everything and gives them nothing. Some of these towns and cities are off the grid. There aren’t any viable, sustainable jobs available. They live in down trodden towns and homes. Yet, as I met them through the years looking for work in a more prosperous area of Kentucky, I came to know and respect them. You will meet no harder working man on this planet than a former coal miner.

  8. To Bareshark:

    Montana doesn’t have willing pawns? You must not have been paying attention. Besides Daines and Rosendale there’s Governor “Noah was 600 years old when he built the ark and he didn’t have any Social Security” Gianforte. If you think they aren’t lining up to be this guy’s b*tch your deluding yourself.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The maximum upload file size: 128 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, code, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here