Rusal plans lawsuit against Nornickel CEO

LONDON Reuters - Aluminium giant Rusal plans to bring a lawsuit against Vladimir Potanin, CEO of Nornickel in London, court documents show, marking the latest flare-up between two of Russia's biggest metal companies.

Rusal wants to bring more claims against Potanin and his affiliate Whiteleave Holdings Ltd that are not covered by a lawsuit filed in London's High Court on October 21st, according to a court order dated March 21 and seen by Reuters.

Rusal was not immediately available for comment, but previously said its legal action was to protect the interests of Nornickel's shareholders. Potanin holds a 36% stake, while Rusal holds 26%.

Potanin and Nornickel didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.

Two of Russia's most powerful businessmen, their dispute dates back to 2008, when Rusal bought its stake in Nornickel and Potanin opposed attempts by Deripaska to merge the two companies.

The agreement between Nornickel's two largest shareholders, Potanin and Rusal in 2012, which led to the October lawsuit, and Rusal's plans for more claims, is centered on an agreement between Potanin and Rusal, which protected Nornickel's dividend payouts. Rusal was controlled by Oleg Deripaska at the time.

The shareholder dispute over dividends has been the main reason behind the on- and-off rows between Nornickel and Rusal. One of the parties to the deal is billionaire Roman Abramovich, who helped to cool the dispute a decade ago.

The deal, which was due to expire at the end of 2022, resolved a disagreement over how much profit should be returned to investors and how much should be invested in Nornickel.

Rusal alleges that Potanin and Whiteleave have procured the transfer of crucial subsidiaries out of Nornickel's corporate group with the sole or main purpose of diverting value away from the Nornickel Group, as part of a wider strategy to control Whiteleave and Potanin's control, according to a summary of the lawsuit dated October 21.

Nornickel has not been directly targeted by Western sanctions, though Britain and the U.S. have placed sanctions on Potanin.

The court order states that Rusal's lawsuit has been paused until mid-July pending an application by Potanin and Whiteleave's lawyers Seladore Legal to Britain's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation for a license to represent them.