Rio Tinto takes full control of Queensland alumina refinery after Russian oligarchs sanctioned

The Queensland Alumina smelter at Gladstone. Rio Tinto has taken full control after Russian oligarchs Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg, who both hold stakes, were sanctioned by the Australian government. Photograph: Lincoln Fowler/Alamy

Rio Tinto has taken full control of an alumina refinery in which oligarchs Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg hold stakes after the Australian government slapped sanctions on the pair and banned the export of bauxite products to Russia.

The oligarchs have an interest in Queensland Alumina Limited through shareholdings in En+ Group, a London-listed resources company which owns the second-largest aluminium producer in the world, Rusal.