Leo Varadkar, the deputy prime minister of Ireland, was told by Rusal chief executive Evgenii Nikitin that a boycott of his company's aluminium would have "significant systemic effects" on the European manufacturing sector.
Rusal is one of the leading aluminium producers in the world and is the owner of the Aughinish Alumina refinery on the Shannon estuary that produces 1.9 million tonnes of alumina per year.
The Limerick-based alumina refinery accounts for 30 per cent of the total alumina production in Western Europe, which is exported to smelters to be converted into primary aluminium.
The Irish alumina refinery is Europe's largest and most technologically advanced, with 450 employees.
In August, Nikitin wrote to Varadkar that while the company had not been subject to any new sanctions, he wanted to raise awareness.
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