OREANDA-NEWS. January 11, 2010. UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium and alumina producer, announced a management reshuffle in its Aluminium Division.

Eugueny Zhukov, who previously held the position of managing director of the Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter (KrAZ), was appointed general director of the Urals aluminium smelter (UAZ). Under Mr. Zhukov’s management, KrAZ has successfully completed a large-scale environmental modernisation programme. This experience will be very useful for further technological development and implementation of advanced production technologies at UAZ.

Mr. Zhukov will be replaced by Eugueny Nikitin, the former managing director of the Sayanogorsk smelter (SAZ). While being the head of SAZ, Mr. Nikitin achieved prominent results in the technological development of the smelter. He contributed markedly to the increase in the smelter’s output and the share of high added value products, as well as to the implementation of the production system that allowed for production cost reductions and highly efficient utilisation of resources to be achieved.

Meanwhile, Boris Smolyanitsky, who had been managing UAZ for nine years, was appointed adviser to Head of the Aluminium Division. During his time at the Urals smelter, a number of very difficult activities have been completed to modernise production and establish efficient material support. The Aluminium Division will benefit greatly from Mr. Smolyanitsky’s vast experience and skills.

Anton Savchenko, who had been the financial director of the Sayanogorsk smelter since 2006 after joining the smelter in 1996, will be acting managing director of SAZ.

‘RUSAL’s personnel rotation programme aims to proliferate the best practices among the Company’s production facilities’, noted Alexey Arnautov, Head of RUSAL’s Aluminium Division. ‘Our plants today have an objective to start operating as independent business units. This new approach to management of our facilities and a new incentives system will stimulate the plants to improve their performance. The latest management reshuffle will allow for the experience accumulated by the managers to be used in the most efficient way’, he said.