RusAl, the world's largest aluminum producer and owner of a 25 percent stake in the country's top nickel producer Norilsk Nickel, has asked Norilsk Nickel to present it with copies of voting papers from a recent extraordinary shareholders' meeting, RusAl said on Tuesday.
"RusAl will study the voting papers from the EGM to decide whether further action is required to protect shareholders' rights and to restore corporate governance standards in the interests of all shareholders of Norilsk Nickel," RusAl said in a statement.
Norilsk shareholders rejected RusAl's proposal for a board re-election at the October 21 Norilsk Nickel EGM initiated by RusAl.
Norilsk has said that Federal Financial Markets Service officials were present at the EGM to control the count of votes.
RusAl, controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, and Interros, billionaire Vladimir Potanin's investment arm, also with a quarter of Norilsk's shares, have been embroiled in a shareholder row after RusAl has lost one seat on Norilsk's board at a June annual general meeting, while Interros increased its representation. RusAl has accused Interros of ruining agreed board parity and the board of directors of vote fraud.
Before the EGM, Interros called on Norilsk minority shareholders to vote against termination of authority of the company's board.
Interros said that RusAl's campaign to contest the AGM results, which it claims was groundless and aimed to serve RusAl's interests only, was directed against Norilsk's shareholders, management and independent directors.
MOSCOW, November 2 (RIA Novosti)
