Rusal’s billionaire chairman resigns

Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg yesterday quit as chairman of the largest aluminium producer in the world, UC Rusal, saying the heavily indebted firm was in deep crisis after a long battle with rival oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

UC Rusal owns Aughinish Alumina in West Limerick, where the company employs 450 people at Europe’s largest alumina refinery.

Vekselberg’s exit widens a rift with controlling shareholder Deripaska, who had sought to build a Russian metals and mining business on a global scale by merging Rusal with Norilsk Nickel — the world’s top nickel and palladium miner.