RUSAL to Challenge Norilsk Board Elections Results

MOSCOW, July 8 -- The world's top aluminium producer UC RUSAL (0486.HK: Quote) (RUAL.PA: Quote), unhappy with the loss of a seat on the board of mining giant Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM: Quote), said on Wednesday it will ask for a new vote.

RUSAL, owner of a quarter of Norilsk shares, said in a statement it aims to convene an extraordinary general meeting and will submit the relevant request by July 20 so that the meeting could take place in October.

At stake is the balance of power on the board, where RUSAL now has three seats and a rival has four.

RUSAL also formally requested that Norilsk provide the voting papers from the annual general meeting elections.

"RUSAL intends to undertake a rigorous inspection of the ballots and, if necessary, will call upon independent experts to examine the papers," the statement said.

"If this exercise reveals violations, RUSAL intends to file a lawsuit to uphold its interests as a shareholder."

An annual shareholders' meeting elected Norilsk's 13-strong board at the end of June. The other biggest shareholder, Interros, an investment vehicle of tycoon Vladimir Potanin, kept four seats on the board.

RUSAL lost one seat on the board for which it had recommended former Chairman Alexander Voloshin. That left it with three representatives on the board.

RUSAL boycotted the first board meeting as it believes the voting had been manipulated.

Voloshin said this month he had refused to approve the results of the AGM, citing voting irregularities.

On Tuesday, RUSAL's majority owner tycoon Oleg Deripaska said RUSAL would seek Voloshin's re-election.