Thursday October 17, 2013, 4:00am PDT
By Andrew Topf - Exclusive to Aluminum Investing News

A Swiss tribunal has found that Rusal (EPA:RUSAL), the Russian aluminum giant, is owed $275 million from Tajik Aluminum Company (TalCo), Tajikstan’s largest enterprise.

According to Eurasianet.org, the tribunal found TalCo in breach of two 2003 agreements with a subsidiary of Rusal. Under the agreements, the subsidiary, Hamer Investing Ltd., had supplied TalCo raw materials, for which the state-run Tajik company failed to pay.

TalCo was thus ordered by the tribunal to pay Rusal damages of over $112 million, about $147 million in interest, and nearly $15 million in legal fees, according to a statement from Rusal.

TalCo is the largest aluminum smelter in Central Asia, while Rusal has 26 smelters/refineries and 8 bauxite mines; Rusal produces 9 percent of the world’s alumina and 8 percent of global alumina production.

Securities Disclosure: I, Andrew Topf, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.