OREANDA-NEWS. February 2, 2009. The Russian government could obtain a minority stake in Rusal, the company's head Oleg Deripaska said. The state could become a minority shareholder as a result of the aluminum maker's converted bonds. Deripaska has refused to disclose information about the company's debt, although according to him, negotiations with banks over debt restructuring are in progress. He went on to say that the update on the issue will be reported within a month.

"This will become more or less clear by the end of February. We have discussed the issue, since we have raised a loan from Vnesheconombank and are now discussing our long-term decision", Deripaska replied when asked whether the state could become a minority shareholder of RusAl. However, the state is not striving to obtain a stake in the aluminum maker. As matter of fact, nothing of the kind is going on".