Russia's En+ adds to calls for Nornickel management overhaul after spill (updated)

En+ MKPAO

28/07/2020 16:43

(Updates to add context, quotes)
    MOSCOW, July 28 (Reuters) - Russia's En+ Group  ENPLq.L 
said on Tuesday it backed a call to overhaul the management of
Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel)  GMKN.MM  after a major fuel spill in
the Arctic at one of the nickel and palladium producer's plants.
    Russian aluminium giant Rusal  0486.HK , a subsidiary of En+
that has a stake in Nornickel, called this month for management
changes at Nornickel, after 21,000 tonnes of diesel leaked into
rivers and subsoil on May 29 in the Arctic city of Norilsk.
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL5N2EL2R6
    "We don't diverge in our views," En+ Chairman Gregory Barker
told Reuters. "We have pressed the management of Norilsk
(Nickel) to accede to requests for an independent review with
the appointment of an independent environmental oversight
committee."
    Barker said it was too early to discuss the possible impact
of the spill on Nornickel's dividend payouts, and that it was
necessary to wait for results of the review.
    "At that point it becomes appropriate to really start to
cost this up ... and allocate responsibility," Barker said. 
    Authorities have priced the damage to the environment at $2
billion, a sum unprecedented for Russia. 
    After the spill, Vladimir Potanin, Nornickel's co-owner and
president, proposed that he and other major shareholders cap the
company's final 2020 dividend at $1 billion.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2DO1ZT
    Rusal, which receives significant dividends from its 27.8%
stake in Nornickel, has said it is waiting for the company's
next board meeting when sources of funds to cover compensation
costs could be discussed.    
    The aluminium producer, which on Monday reported a 10% fall
in its second quarter sales, expects demand to be down by
between 8% and 9% in 2020 as a whole, Rusal's head of sales and
marketing Roman Andryushin said.
    Andryushin said the company's earlier forecast, of a drop
between 8% and 14%, had been revised following positive market
developments in China. 

 (Reporting by Polina Ivanova and Anastasia Lyrchikova; Editing
by Edmund Blair and Barbara Lewis)
 ((p.ivanova@thomsonreuters.com;))