Govt not to intervene in Norilsk Nickel conflict - Sechin

摘要

The Russian government will not intervene in the ongoing shareholder dispute at Arctic mining and smelting giant MMC Norilsk Nickel, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal this week. Despite speculation the government would not oppose the formation of a 'metals champion' through a hypothetical merger between Norilsk and key shareholder aluminum producer UC RUSAL, Sechin has said that the current issues are corporate in nature and need patience rather than government involvement. Norilsk recently made another offer to buy back its shares from RUSAL and the offer, which RUSAL head Oleg Deripaska has said is too low, this week received backing from RUSAL board chair Viktor Veksleberg.