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Rusal Seeks Arbitration Against Interros for Norilsk (Update1)
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aueK5kFgSxRU
By Rebecca Keenan
Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- United Co. Rusal, battling with billionaire Vladimir Potanin’s Interros Holding Co. for control of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, said it filed a request for arbitration about the dispute.
No hearing date has been set in the London Court of International Arbitration, the Moscow-based company controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska said today in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange. The filing was made on Aug. 10 against Interros International Investments Ltd., Rusal said.
Deripaska and Potanin, which both own 25 percent of the world’s biggest nickel supplier through their companies, have offered to buy each other out after disagreeing on dividend and investment plans. Rusal is seeking arbitration after winning one less board seat than Interros in a June election.
“The company seeks the speedy determination of this dispute in order that the parties’ rights and obligations are established by arbitral award as quickly as possible,” Rusal said in the statement.
Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum supplier, fell 0.7 percent to HK$8.44 at 10:00 a.m. in Hong Kong trading. Rusal, which raised $2.24 billion in its Hong Kong initial public offering this year, wants dividends from Norilsk to cut debt.
Breach Agreement
Interros breached a 2008 agreement by failing to vote its shares to ensure the election of four directors nominated by Rusal and also to ensure the election of Alexander Voloshin as a director and chairman, Rusal said today.
Rusal this month sent a letter to Norilsk requesting an extraordinary general meeting to elect a new board, after winning one less board seat than Interros in the June 28 annual election. The aluminum producer said it wants to increase the number of independent board members at Norilsk, and also wants the nickel miner to sell its stake in Stillwater Mining Co., cut spending on non-mining operations and lower equipment and raw material costs.
Deripaska in July said he’s concerned Interros has enough influence on Norilsk’s board to approve a share buyback, after the board approved payment of $1.33 billion in dividends. He said he opposed a buyback and sought dividends of $3 billion for last year during discussions with Interros in April.
Rusal previously sought to combine with Norilsk. Deripaska and Potanin agreed in November 2008 to put merger plans on hold for three years.
Norilsk and Interros couldn’t be reached after office hours.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Keenan in Melbourne at rkeenan5@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 10, 2010 22:22 EDT RUSAL files arbitration request against Interros
http://af.reuters.com/article/metalsNews/idAFTOE67A00J20100811
Wed Aug 11, 2010 1:56am GMT
HONG KONG Aug 11 (Reuters) - Russian aluminium giant UC RUSAL (0486.HK) said on Wednesday it had filed an arbitration request to the London Court of International Arbitration against Interros International Investments Ltd.
In a filing to the Hong Kong bourse, RUSAL said it filed the request in relation to a dispute regarding a cooperation agreement for the election of directors for Russian company Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM), in which RUSAL and Interros each hold a 25 percent stake.
Last week, RUSAL said it wanted to hold board elections for Norilsk Nickel and tighten financial controls at the miner, in an ongoing power struggle for the world's largest nickel and palladium producer. [ID:nLDE6751PZ]
No hearing date has been fixed for the arbitration.
RUSAL said it hoped for a speedy determination to the dispute that established parties' rights and obligations as soon as possible. (Reporting by Donny Kwok; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)
Rusal Secures $4.6 Billion Credit Line
http://www.industryweek.com/articles/rusal_secures_4-6_billion_credit_line_22511.aspx?SectionID=1
The loan was extended to Rusal under an accord to help Russian companies generally as they struggled to survive the global meltdown.
By . Agence France-Presse
Aug. 10, 2010
The world's largest aluminum producer Rusal said on August 10 that it has secured a credit line of $4.6 billion from Russia's largest bank Sberbank to cover debt repayments.
"The proposed credit covers the debt and interest due to VEB" for a bank loan taken out in 2008, Rusal said.
The Sberbank credit runs until December 2013 and can be extended for 18 months.
Rusal has been buffeted by the global economic slump which slashed demand for its products but it returned to profit in the first quarter with earnings of $247 million after what it said was "one of the toughest years" on record for the aluminum industry.
The VEB loan was extended to Rusal under an accord to help Russian companies generally as they struggled to survive the global meltdown, with the money used in turn to cover its purchase of a 25% stake in mining giant Norilsk Nickel.
In December last year, Rusal reached agreement with its creditors on restructuring massive debts of $16.8 billion, clearing the way for a listing of its shares in Hong Kong.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
Norilsk to Review Request
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/norilsk-to-review-request/412130.html
11 August 2010
Norilsk Nickel said Tuesday that its board will review a request by shareholder United Company RusAl to hold an extraordinary general meeting.
The board will study the request tomorrow, Norilsk said.
(Bloomberg)
Google Launches Traffic Tracker In 2 Russian Cities –Vedomosti
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201008102034dowjonesdjonline000359&title=google-launches-traffic-tracker-in-2-russian-citiesvedomosti
Aug 10, 2010
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Google Inc. (GOOG) in Russia has launched a service that lets users monitor traffic through the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg, business daily Vedomosti reports Wednesday.
A test version of the service went online Tuesday, said Google spokeswoman Alla Zabrovskaya. The mobile version uses an application that must be downloaded to a smartphone or other device. Both it and the desktop program are free, she said.
Google doesn't plan to monetize the service, Zabrovskaya said. The company will gather traffic information for the service mainly from drivers who use it.
Vedomosti also cites data from the company behind social networking site LiveInternet, showing that Google accounted for 22% of Web search queries in Russia in July, down from 23% a year earlier. That's far behind the country's No. 1 search engine, Yandex, which handled 65%, up from a year-earlier 57%. Google is the leading search provider in its U.S. home base and other countries but has lagged Yandex in Russia for years. Yandex already offers its own traffic-tracking service.
Newspaper website: www.vedomosti.ru
-Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2900
August 10, 2010, 7:34 pm
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