Potanin’s Interros Backs Voloshin as Chairman for Norilsk

Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin’s Interros Holding Co. said it would support Alexander Voloshin’s return as chairman of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel should the United Co. Rusal-backed candidate be elected to the board.

Shareholders of Norilsk voted for a new board today amid a dispute over management between Interros and Rusal, which hold about 30 percent and 25 percent of Russia’s largest mining company, respectively.

Interros will support Voloshin as chairman should he win enough votes to join the board, Larisa Zelkova, an Interros candidate for the Norilsk board, said by phone today.

Norilsk said shareholders representing 93.5 percent of the company participated in today’s vote, the results of which may not be made public until next week.

“Rusal gave some of its votes for Voloshin and we hope that he will be in the board,” Maxim Sokov, Rusal’s director of strategy, said by e-mail.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yuliya Fedorinova in Moscow at yfedorinova@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Brad Cook at bcook7@bloomberg.net