MOSCOW — Russia's top energy official said Tuesday that the Kremlin doesn't plan to buy out the shares of two tycoons feuding over mining giant Norilsk Nickel as a way to end their dispute.
The biggest shareholders in the world's largest nickel producer are Interros, controlled by billionaire Vladimir Potanin, and Rusal, owned by metals magnate Oleg Deripaska.
The conflict between the two tycoons, who each own 25 percent in Norilsk, flared up in June when a shareholder vote at the company's annual meeting reduced Rusal's presence on the board to three seats compared to Interros's four.
Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin was quoted by a Russian news agency on Tuesday as saying that the government is not planning to end the row by buying into Norilsk, but warned that it will intervene if the conflict hurts the company's workers.
"We don't interfere in corporate practices," he was quoted by Interfax as saying. "But if this starts to negatively affect the social and economic position of Norilsk, we will review this position."
Sechin is in the city of Norilsk, where Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was meeting with both Potanin and Deripaska.
Deripaska claims that Norilsk's management manipulated the June vote in favor of Potanin in a bid to squeeze Rusal.
Norilsk vehemently denied any wrongdoing but agreed to Rusal's motion to call an emergency meeting to re-elect the board. The vote is to be held on October 21.
Rusal also filed a suit against Potanin's Interros in a London court, claiming it breached a 2008 agreement between the two main shareholders in Norilsk to ensure both groups had parity.
Observers say the conflict could be resolved once one of the two men agrees to buy the other one out, though both Deripaska and Potanin insisted on Tuesday they have no plans of selling their holdings in Norilsk.
Before the global financial downturn hit the heavily leveraged Rusal, the company was widely seen as striving to merge with Norilsk. And while industry analysts noted that Deripaska may still be eager to buy out Potanin's share, his company is still short of cash. Its net debt stood at $12 billion at the end of the first quarter, but the company announced earlier this month that it secured a new $4.6 credit line.