Russian firm, UC Rusal, rejects Supreme Court ruling, says it still owns ALSCON

The Company says it will only allow BFIG official for inspection visit

The Russian company currently managing the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, ALSCON, has said it will not obey the Supreme Court ruling sacking it from the aluminium company as it was not a party to the suit.

The firm, UC Rusal, which took over the plant in 2006 with a bid of $250 million was sacked on July 7 by the Supreme Court.

The Court held that the firm was not the rightful winner of the bid and declared that ALSCON be given to BFIGroup, a Nigerian-American consortium which was declared the bid winner by the court.

The Director of Public Relations at UC Rusal, Albert Dyabin, stated the company’s position on Tuesday in an interview in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.

The spokesperson claimed the company’s legal ownership of the plant had not been affected by any litigation.

“No member of the RUSAL group has been a respondent in any case affecting the ownership of ALSCON,” Mr. Dyabin said. “RUSAL is, however, fully prepared to defend its rights to the smelter company, including in legal proceedings.”

The firm has approached the International Court of Arbitration in London urging it to restrain the Federal Government from implementing the judgment of the Supreme Court.

We did not prevent BPE officials

UC Rusal also said it disallowed the planned visit by officials of the Bureau of Public Enterprises because they were coming for the visit with others who were not the Bureau’s staff.

Mr. Dyabin said that while its doors are open to the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, it will not allow visits from people who are not identified as BPE officials.

His statement follows the refusal by the company to allow a planned visit by the BPE, the National Council Privatisation, the BFIGroup, and others to ALSCON plant.

The visit was scheduled for November 21 to November 23 and was meant to help the company

The move was interpreted as an attempt by the company to disobey the Supreme Court’s ruling to forfeit ALSCON to the BFIG group.

Mr. Dyabin said that the while the BPE can pay ALSCON a visit anytime, because it represents the Federal Government and is the co-owner of the ALSCON, it will not allow any other person.

“A delegation from BPE can visit the plant at any time and is at liberty to visit privatised companies, including ALSCON.

Taking into account that this time a delegation included some people, who were not BPE officials, we kindly requested their names and purposes of visit.

“At the end of the day the planned visit was adjourned because the parties, ALSCON and BPE agreed that the agenda of visit must be further clarified in details,” Mr. Dyabin said.