Rusal CEO resigns

Victor Vekselberg, head of the Renovo Group, filed a resignation note to the Rusal board, RIA Novosti reports.

Vekselberg has headed Rusal, a major aluminum manufacturer, since it was founded in 2007. He was a co-owner of SUAL Partners with Leonard Blavatnik. SUAL Partners holds 15.8% of Rusal’s shares.

The replacement of Vekselberg will be discussed on March 16.

Kommersant reported in December 2011 that SUAL Partners was planning to sue Oleg Deripaska for violating a contract with Glencore (owner of 8.75% of Rusal) on the purchase of half of aluminum. Oleg Deripsaka ignored the veto of Renovo.

Another disagreement took place in Rusal’s Ural factories, which used to belong to SUAL Partners. Rusal wanted to stop aluminum production due to its low profitability due to high prices for electricity provided by KES Holding (a member of the Renovo Group). Rusal accused Renova of giving no discounts to the factories, Renova accused Rusal of neglecting modernization and improvement of efficiency.

The Hong Kong Exchange stop trade of Rusal shares at 9.31 am. trade opened on Tuesday, with share prices dropping by 1.6%.

Euronext started trading Rusal’s securities at MICEX and RTS on December 24, 2010.

Rusal produces 10% of world aluminum and 10% of alumina. It has offices in 19 countries, including Europe, North America, South-Eastern Asia.