|
Wednesday, 22.06.2011
Solstice: New Chairman for Norilsk Nickel
Moscow. At the first meeting of the new Norilsk Nickel board, the current Chairman, Voloshin, nominated by the company Rusal, was replaced by Interros representative Bugrov.
|
|
The new Chairman is now Andrej Bugrov, from Interros/Potanin. Thus, after years of dispute over the leadership of the world’s largest Nickel mining company, an important strategic decision against Rusal (shareholder of 25%) has been taken in favour of Interros (shareholder of 30%).
|
During the vote of the board members, Mikhail Strzhalkovski, General Director for Norilsk Nickel and traditionally allied with Interros, abstained.
At the suggestion of an independent board member, Bugrov was surprisingly nominated and elected through the votes of Interros members and minority shareholders. Interros spokesman Andrej Kirpichnikov explains, we accepted the proposal as he represents the relationship between the Norilsk Nickel shareholders perfectly.
|
Financial expert with international reputation
Andrej Bugrov had been Deputy Director of Interros, part of the Potanin group, for many years and for nine years he had been part of the leadership of Norilsk Nickel.
Bugrov enjoys the reputation as a financial expert in the Russian business elite. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who is regarded as liberal, states that he knows and highly respects Bugrov. Bugrov had been working as the Russian Director of the World Bank and had been very successful with loans for developing industries.
Looking at the battle about Norilsk Nickel leadership that had been going on for years, Bugrov’s election was as much of a surprise as Alexander Voloshin’s replacement.
|
Voloshin had to go
Voloshin, proposed by Rusal/Deripaska, had first been elected as an "independent" Chairman in 2008. As an agreement between Rusal and Interros, he was supposed to achieve a balance of interests between the two major shareholders.
Since 2008 he was heavily criticized by Norilsk Nickel management and minority shareholders and was surprisingly not re-elected in 2010, but re-instated in March 2011 (with votes from Interros).
|
Invest or paying out dividends
The main points of contention in the company’s policy was and still is the decision on which part of the profits should not be paid out or used as bonus payments but should be invested in business development and environmental protection.
|
Alexander Voloshin, a close associate of exiled Oligarch Boris Beresovski, was Head of the Kremlin administration under Yeltsin and then Putin. Voloshin, at Norilsk Nickel, was also a close ally to Aluminium Oligarch Deripaska who has a close relationship with the Yeltsin family.
|
After the board meeting, a spokesman of the Rusal group announced that they would push for a new election of the Chairman.
Moscow analysts believe that it would not exclude the possibility that Oleg Deripaska would sell his 25% stake.
|
|
