From Moscow to Mississippi

Alexey Mordashov, one of the richest oligarchs in Russia and target of international sanctions because of his country’s invasion of Ukraine, played a major role in one of Mississippi's biggest economic developments, in the Golden Triangle, over the last 20 years. Mordashov's venture is why one of the region’s top employers - Steel Dynamics - exists today. In 2014, Steel Dynamics bought a steel mill in the Golden Triangle Industrial Park for $1.6B. It's now one of Lowndes County’s top five manufacturing employers. But that purchase was the result of on-going operations seven years earlier under the ownership of SeverCorr - a company Mordashov bankrolled. “It was a big deal ... because, at the time, the region was industry-poor," LINK CEO Joe Max Higgins recently told The Dispatch. The bet paid off for the Golden Triangle. Those positives can be traced back to Mordashov’s initial faith and $200M investment in the Lowndes County. Since Russia attacked Ukraine in late February, international entities have levied sanctions on more than a dozen Russian billionaires. Mordashov, worth more than $29B,is one of those targeted. In 2014, Mordashov claimed Severstal “came to the conclusion that … our future is tied to Russia,” according to Russian News Agency TASS, a state-controlled media outlet. The timing suggested otherwise. The sale occurred months after former President Obama imposed sanctions on several Russian businessmen after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine. Those sanctions were aimed at banning Russian companies from doing business with U.S. companies. Mordashov and his company hasn't done business in the U.S. since. The EU currently says sanctions on the oligarch are tied financially to media companies that play a role in destabilizing Ukraine with Russian propaganda. In a recent statement through TASS, Mordashov claimed to have “never been close to politics" and "fail(s) to understand how these sanctions against me will contribute to the settlement of the dreadful conflict in Ukraine.” Last week, Italian authorities confiscated Mordashov’s 215-foot American-made yacht. He now has shifted control of some of his wealth to his wife and stepped down from positions at other companies, according to The National, a news service based in the Middle East. (Source: The Dispatch 03/11/22) From Moscow to Mississippi: Sanctioned Russian oligarch played key role in making steel mill a reality - The Dispatch (cdispatch.com)