WASHINGTON _ A top Senate Democrat is asking the owner of a controversial Kentucky aluminum mill to provide more details about a Russian oligarch's investment in the project, including whether the partnership could provide the Russian company with access to sensitive information.
In a letter to Craig Bouchard, Braidy Industries' chief executive officer, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., says recent reports about the plant have raised questions about whether there were discussions with the Russian company's investment in the plant before the U.S. Treasury Department lifted sanctions on the company.
The Russian firm Rusal, which has pledged a $200 million investment in a Braidy Industries proposed $1.68 billion aluminum mill near Ashland, was taken off a Treasury sanctions list in late January, despite assertions that it and a large shareholder, Oleg Deripaska, are closely tied to Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
