MOSCOW, March 11 (Itar-Tass) – Norilsk Nickel Board of Directors at its first meeting on Monday, March 11, electeds Gareth Penny its new chairman.

Shareholders of MMC Norilsk Nickel voted in favour of early termination of powers of the company’s Board of Directors and elected a new Board of Directors in the course of today’s Extraordinary General Meeting of the company’s Shareholders (EGM).

In accordance with preliminary voting results, the following directors were elected to the Board of Directors:

Enos Ned Banda, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, FREETEL Capital (PTY) LTD;

Sergei Barbashev, General Director, Chairman of the Managing Board, CJSC INTERROS Holding Company;

Alexei Bashkirov, Executive Director for Investments and Asset Management of CJSC INTERROS Holding Company;

Sergei Bratukhin, President, CIS Investment Advisers, LLC;

Andrei Bougrov, Deputy General Director, Member of the Managing Board of CJSC INTERROS Holding Company;

Marianna Zakharova, Deputy General Director for Legal Issues, Member of the Managing Board, CJSC INTERROS Holding Company;

Valery Matviyenko, Director, Alumina Division East, CJSC RUSAL Global Management B.V.;

Stalbek Mishakov, Adviser to General Director, CJSC RUSAL Global Management B.V.;

Gareth Penny, Executive Chairman of the Board, New World Resources Plc;

Gerhardus Prinsloo, Director, majority owner of Natural Resource Partnership LLC;

Maxim Sokov, Director for Strategic Investments Management, CJSC RUSAL Global Management B.V.;

Vladislav Solovyev, First Deputy CEO, CJSC RUSAL Global Management B.V.;

Sergei Chemezov, CEO of RosTec Corporation, State Development, Production and Export Facilitation of Advanced Industrial Products Company.

The first meeting of the newly elected Board followed the EGM. The Directors jointly appointed Gareth Penny as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Andrei Bougrov was elected as Deputy Chairman of the Board. There were also appointed chairpersons of the Board Committees: Gerhardus Prinsloo, Maxim Sokov, Sergey Bratukhin, and Alexei Bashkirov will chair the Audit Committee, the Strategy Committee, the Corporate Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Budget Committee respectively, the company said in a statement.

Penny Gareth said: “The newly elected Board of Directors of Norilsk Nickel includes 5 independent non-executive directors out of 13 Members. The position of the Chairman of the Board is now occupied by an independent Director. Such number of independent directors guarantees that the decisions of the Board will be impartial and will serve the interests of all shareholders of the Company. I believe that MMC Norilsk Nickel has a great potential for development. The settlement of a dispute between major shareholders should provide the Company with a solid platform for further improvement of strategic, operational and corporate governance issues. We as the Board members will do our best to ensure stability of the company's operations and increase its long-term value for shareholders.”

MMC Norilsk Nickel, a company incorporated under the laws of the Russian Federation, is the largest diversified mining and metals company in Russia, the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium and one of the world's largest producers of platinum, rhodium, copper and cobalt. In addition to this, MMC Norilsk Nickel produces a large number of other by-products, including gold, silver, tellurium, selenium, iridium and ruthenium.

The key production units of the company’s group in Russia are at the Polar and Kola Peninsulas. MMC Norilsk Nickel international assets include operations in Finland, Australia, Botswana and South Africa.

MMC Norilsk Nickel’s shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange. ADR’s on the Company’s shares are traded on the other the counter market in the US and on the London and Berlin stock exchanges.