A controlling stake of 68.01% in public joint-stock company Zaporizhia Aluminium Complex (ZAlK), which until recently was under the control of Russia's Rusal, was transferred to the securities account of the State Property Fund of Ukraine on June 9, 2015, the Public Prosecutor's Office reported on Wednesday.

"Thanks to measures taken by the Public Prosecutor's Office the court decision issued under its claim was enforced and the stake in ZAlK worth over UAH 105 million or 68.01% of the share capital of the company was returned to state ownership," the Public Prosecutor's Office said.

The office said that in February 2001 Ukraine's State Property Fund and CJSC AvtoVAZ-Invest concluded the ZAlK sale and purchase agreement, under which the buyer was to pay the company's debts of over $75 million to Ukreximbank. The buyers - CJSC AvtoVAZ-Invest and Velbay Holdings Limited –avoided the fulfillment of these investment liabilities, and this was why the claim was filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office, which was upheld by the court.

As reported, on March 11, 2015, Ukraine's Supreme Court ruled in favor of the demand made by the Prosecutor General's Office that a controlling 68.01% stake in ZAlK should be returned to state ownership. Rusal said that the company will challenge the ruling in international courts.

ZAlK was Ukraine's only producer of primary aluminum. In April of 2011, ZAlK began wrapping up the mothballing of its existing capacity at its electrolysis shop and announced the cessation of the production of primary aluminum, due to it being a loss-maker, particularly because of high power rates. At the same time, aluminum production capacity at the plant halted, and primary aluminum was not produced. Also, ZAlK has eliminated alumina production in recent years.