The Podgorica Aluminum Plant (KAP), once an industrial giant in Montenegro, now resembles a ghost town, its workforce cut to one-fifth of its former strength. The plant is at the center of a
dispute between the Montenegrin government and KAP's Russian shareholder, which is owned by Kremlin-friendly oligarch Oleg Deripaska. The Russian shareholder is now suing the Montenegrin government over lost profits from the failing plant.
Inside Montenegro's Embattled Aluminum Factory
1
Electrolysis cells in the Podgorica Aluminum Plant, or Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica (KAP)
2
3
An employee works with the active electrolysis cells.
4
Aluminum sprays through an opening in the crust of active electrolysis cells.
5
An employee supervises the flow of melted aluminum at the foundry.
6
An employee inspects the purity of smelted aluminum.
7
Workers take a break outside the foundry.
![A plaque reads: "Second phase, aluminium factory, Titograd [the former name of Podgorica], work started 19.12.1976."](https://gdb.rferl.org/3AF54D7E-DB1C-420C-98BE-04ED22E0A8AB_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
8
A plaque reads: "Second phase, aluminium factory, Titograd [the former name of Podgorica], work started 19.12.1976."
9
A crane operator moves ingots in the foundry.
10
A truck driver waits for products to be loaded.
11
An employee takes a nap in a closed-down hall.
12
13
