Russia: Court suspends operations at Rusal Achinsk Alumina Refinery for industrial safety violations
[Summary translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Centre]
Tisul District Court suspended the operations of JSC RUSAL Achinsk Alumina Refinery for 90 days, 21 August 2025
...During the court hearing it was established that, during a scheduled on-site inspection conducted on the basis of an order from the Siberian Department of Rostekhnadzor, violations of mandatory industrial safety rules and regulations were identified at the hazardous production facility — the Kiya-Shaltyrsky open-pit mine.
In particular, in the north-western part of waste dump No. 5 at the hazardous production facility “Kiya-Shaltyrsky open-pit mine,” near exploration line A-A at the +800 m level, a visual inspection revealed cracks and fractures as well as a hazardous zone where destructive slope deformations could occur. It was also established that project design requirements had been violated: the dumping of the +800 m tier of waste dump No. 5 in the north-western section was carried out without relocating the Berdovka River channel beyond the boundaries of the mining area, as required by the project documentation.
These violations created a threat to the life and health of personnel at the hazardous production facility and posed a risk of accidents involving mining and transport equipment in the event of slope collapse.
The court found JSC RUSAL Achinsk Alumina Refinery guilty of committing an administrative offence under Part 1 Article 9.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation and imposed a penalty in the form of administrative suspension of operations for 90 days.