Guyana monitoring implications of US sanctions on RUSAL

The Guyana Government says it is monitoring developments relating to US sanctions against Russian Aluminum company – RUSAL, as that company owns 90% of the Berbice-based Bauxite Company Guyana Inc. and can affect employees here.

Last week, the U.S. imposed sanctions on seven Russian companies and their owners, including RUSAL and its owner Oleg Deripaska.

RUSAL owns a 90% stake in the Berbice-based Bauxite Company Guyana Inc. which is located between Kwakwani and Linden and employs a number of workers from the area.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Greenidge told reporters on Wednesday that it will not be easy to give an immediate analysis of the situation but the developments are being monitored.

“We are concerned, of course, to do that quickly so that we can avoid any adverse consequences on the social side with regards employment and so forth. But at this point in time, I don’t think that either we or the company would be in a position to say ‘this is what will happen tomorrow’ as a consequence. It will evolve,” the Foreign Affairs Minister said.

News Room contacted the company, however, we were told that the company’s Managing Director is not in Guyana and was transferred to the personnel department. Calls to that department went unanswered.

According to reports, local employees were promised a formal announcement on the way forward later this month.

Another local report states that Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union (GBGWU) is monitoring the situation.

The sanctions against the Russian company explicitly bar U.S. entities from doing business with RUSAL, but the impact also extends to companies outside the United States. Russia’s ruble suffered its biggest daily fall in over three years on Monday and stocks in major Russian companies also slid, as investors reacted to a new round of U.S. sanctions.