MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Norilsk Nickel has abolished its financial control function, a source close to the Board of Directors told TASS.
The item "regarding the corporate financial control service" was on the agenda of the Board meeting on January 26.
Labor relations with both inspectors were terminated and financial control service regulations were canceled, which actually means the abolishment of the function, the source said.
The financial control service was auditing the financial and business operations of the company and its subsidiaries in order to inform and make recommendations to the President and Board members of the company.
"Not all Board members agree with this decision, since the service for many years was the only really independent body of the internal control system from the management and contributed to the significant improvement of performance of certain business processes inside Norilsk Nickel," Board Member of Norilsk Nickel and Vice President of Rusal Elena Bezdenezhnykh told TASS.
Such a decision "is not logical" in the environment of mounting external challenges, she said. "The presence of such a service in Norilsk Nickel is obviously an example of best corporate governance practices, since it shapes a transparent and clear internal control system," Bezdenezhnykh stressed.
Norilsk Nickel and Interros declined to comment to TASS.
The major shareholders of Norilsk Nickel are Interros, owned by Vladimir Potanin (35.95% of shares), and Rusal, founded by Oleg Deripaska (26.25% of shares).