The government of Tajikistan will turn its sights on Rusal, the aluminium group controlled by billionaire oligarch Oleg Deripaska, after settling one of the most expensive lawsuits contested in the UK.

The high-profile High Court trial over alleged corruption and bribery at Talco, the state-owned aluminium smelter that is Tajikistan’s most important industrial asset, prompted unwelcome headlines for a government that is struggling to bring investment to one of central Asia’s poorest countries.