OREANDA-NEWS. February 02, 2011. UC RUSAL (SEHK: 486, EuroNext: RUSAL/RUAL), the world’s largest aluminium producer and owner of a 25% stake in MMC Norilsk Nickel, announces the launch of an updated version of www.savenornickel.ru (www.savenornickel.com). The modified version of this information resource is designed to inform all stakeholders about the importance and necessity of convening another EGM as the only possibility to prevent the actions of management aimed at destroying the company’s value, and to provide stakeholders with full information, which will help them make a decision during the voting at the extraordinary meeting of shareholders of MMC to be held on 11 March 2011.

Thanks to the efforts of all the shareholders who supported the programme of change presented by RUSAL and to the unprecedented pressure on the management of Norilsk Nickel and Interros, we have achieved a lot. We have forced the management of Norilsk Nickel to take into account the interests of all shareholders and to start working on improving the efficiency and value of the company.

The capitalisation of Norilsk Nickel has gone up more than 50% in the last six months. Thus, from November 2008 to October 2010 the value of Norilsk Nickel stock was growing at a significantly lower rate than the stock of other companies in the industry, however after the implementation of a number of projects suggested by RUSAL to boost the efficiency of the company its stock began to increase in value at a much faster pace than the stock of the competition. The projects in question include the plans announced last autumn to sell off the non-core assets such as OGK-3, Stillwater, and treasury stock. However, the devil is in the details. All these initiatives, which the company undoubtedly needs, can go awry and cause losses to the majority of Norilsk Nickel shareholders if implemented inappropriately and without proper transparency.

Today we are facing an even more complicated task: not only we have to make sure that the company’s management makes shareholder value growth their top priority after the RUSAL’s suggestion supported by the minority shareholders, but we also need to get them to comply with the corporate governance principles that require transparency for every transaction conducted by the company. This is the only way to tap into the company’s potential and use it with maximum efficiency in the interests of all related parties – Norilsk Nickel employees, its shareholders, government and, finally, for the benefit of the company and its future.

Currently commodity markets are experiencing an extremely favourable situation – we are at the beginning of an upturn in the economic cycle, which may ensure that Norilsk Nickel will at least double its value if the company is managed right. We know how to ensure such increase in the value and what should be done for that. To discuss these and many other questions regarding the prospects of Norilsk Nickel RUSAL management will meet investors in Europe and USA on 15-22 February.