…in light of US sanctions against Russian metals magnate and consequent surge in aluminium prices

AS the news spread of the United States sanctions against Russian metals magnate, Oleg Deripaska, which has caused aluminium prices to surge, local workers of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Incorporated (BCGI) have been told by their superiors on Wednesday, that they have nothing to worry about and were given all assurance that works will go on.
This is according to an employee of RUSAL who, in a telephone interview with this publication on Wednesday, said that a meeting was held with staff members after they expressed anxiety over what was reported in the media about the mother company. The employee said that a directive was given to stop the loading of barges but every other operation is going on as per normal.

“Everything is normal, workers still working normal and so, all the shifts coming in but they told us that something happen outside (overseas) and the ship wouldn’t come in now, so they stop the loading,” the worker said. He added that Management related to the staff that they are expected to get word by the 15th April on the way forward but the workers should remain optimistic that nothing will change.

Giving a contradicting report, however, was a senior superintendent who also spoke to this publication via telephone. He said that no meeting was held with the staff, since no information was trickled down thus far to do so. “That’s not true, no meeting was kept with employees, no directive was given from HR (Human Resource) Department or nothing, people are looking at the world news and taking things into their own perspective,” the superintendent said. When asked about the loading of the barges being halted, he said that the ship has already departed and currently mining and stripping are being done.

Efforts to contact the company’s Russian management proved futile. A release, however, noted, “The Company intends to continue to fulfil its existing commitments in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.”

Remaining hopeful
BCGI has its operations in the Upper Berbice river communities of Aroaima and Kwakwani. It currently employs over 500 workers, most of whom are from Linden. The rest of the workforce resides in Kwakwani, Ituni, Aroaima and Haruru. Regional Vice Chairman for Region 10, Elroy Adolph, who has responsibility for Kwakwani said that he is remaining hopeful that no overwhelming impact is brought on the operations of the local company because not only will the workers be affected but also several persons living in the communities who earn a living from the company’s operations. “They don’t have so much persons from Kwakwani working at RUSAL, but there are persons contracted to do many things, like take workers to work, make lunch for workers and so forth; so it will affect the community as a whole,” Adolph pointed out. In addition, he said that RUSAL does live up to its corporate obligation of assisting with community projects. “Anything you ask them to do, minor things and so, they would do it,” Adolph said.

All of the company’s assets have been frozen under the US jurisdiction, causing the stocks and US dollar bonds to flatter, plunging shares 41.8% on the world market. In a quick fix, RUSAL then requested that customers pay in Euros instead of US dollars.

Deripaska, RUSAL’s owner, is said to be paying the price for Russian interference in the US general elections in 2016. According to Reuters, Deripaska said that the US decision is groundless, ridiculous and absurd. Since the sanction, Reuters reported that two of the company’s non-executive directors resigned. “Maksim Goldman and Daniel Lesin Wolfe stepped down from their positions due to the sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the company said. This follows the resignation of Glencore Chief Executive, Ivan Glasenberg from his role as a RUSAL director,” the report said. In addition to Guyana, RUSAL also has companies in Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Nigeria and Guinea.