Rusal to participate in the buyback of Nornickel shares for raising additional funds

Leading global aluminium producer Rusal has applied to participate in the buyback of Nornickel shares, the world’s largest palladium and high-grade nickel producer and also a major producer of platinum and copper.

Rusal is willing to participate in the repurchase of Nornickel shares to raise additional funds for financial its own investment programme. The Russian company is presently completing the construction of the Taishet aluminium smelter and preparing to rebuild the Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Novokuznetsk and Bratsk aluminium smelters, which will require a capital investment of about US$5 billion to complete.

The exact amount of Nornickel shares that will be repurchased by Nornickel from Rusal will be determined once the procedure is complete. Rusal expects that its stake in Nornickel will remain above the blocking stake (25%+1 share).

Deputy General Director Maxim Poletaev commented: “Share buybacks, as well as dividends, are a form of profit distribution among shareholders. This year, as suggested by Nornickel’s management team, the Company's final dividends for 2020 were reduced. However, thanks to the share buyback, the amount of funds distributed among the shareholders of Nornickel will be close to the dividend payments for 2019.”