MOSCOW, July 17 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian financial director of Montenegro’s largest aluminum plant, a man authorities believe facilitated the theft of almost €10 million in electricity, was released from jail on Wednesday on €100,000 ($130,000) bail, shareholder En+ Group said.
Russian national Dmitry Potrubach, 44, was detained last week while attempting to cross the Serbian border. He has been implicated in the theft of electricity worth €9.64 million euros from the European grid and faces up to 10 years in prison.
Potrubach, who is linked to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, has denied the accusations. Deripaska’s En+ Group posted the bail. Potrubach was ordered not to leave town Wednesday.
En+ Group and the Montenegrin government each hold 29.3 percent stakes in the aluminum plant, which annually produces 120,000 tons of the metal and employs 1,200 people. Local media, however, have reported that the plant is bankrupt.
En+ said in a statement that it regarded Potrubach's detention as an attempt to put pressure on the plant’s shareholders and investors.
