OREANDA-NEWS. RUSAL, SUAL and Glencore are pleased to announce the completion of the deal to combine their assets and create United Company RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium and alumina producer.

According to the press service of the company, UC RUSAL combines 4 bauxite mines, 10 alumina refineries, 14 aluminium smelters and 3 foil mills. The company's assets and over 100,000 employees are located in 17 countries across 5 continents.

The new company has pro forma sales of approximately US$12 billion. The group's production capacity totals approximately 4 million tonnes of aluminium and 11 million tonnes of alumina. The company owns extensive, high quality bauxite reserves and has access to a significant energy base.

The non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors will be Victor Vekselberg, previously Chairman of SUAL. The company will be led by Alexander Bulygin, Chief Executive Officer, who was previously CEO of RUSAL.

UC RUSAL is committed to high standards of corporate governance system in line with international standards. The new Board of Directors includes Oleg Deripaska, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Basic Element; Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of the Board of Renova Group of Companies; Len Blavatnik, Chairman of Access Industries, Inc.; Ivan Glasenberg, the CEO of Glencore; Alexander Bulygin, the CEO of the United Company; Andrew Michelmore, the CEO of En+; Michael Nossal, the CFO of En+; Vladimir Titkov, General Director, En+Service; Dmitry Afanasiev, Chairman of Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners and two independent non-executive directors — Nigel Kenny and Philip Lader. A third independent non-executive director will be appointed by 1 July, 2007.

There will be nine Board committees, overseeing various areas of the company, including environmental, heath and safety, audit, remuneration, nominations and IPO preparation. The company plans to undertake an Initial Public Offering (IPO) within three years.

Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of UC RUSAL, said: "While continuing to boost our production volumes and complete our expansion projects, we will promote a world class corporate governance structure, enabling us to meet the highest international standards and strengthen our relationships with our customers, partners, investors and employees in the regions where we operate around the world."

Commenting on the launch of UC RUSAL, Alexander Bulygin, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Today we have created a new industry leader — UC RUSAL, the world's largest aluminium and alumina producer. This deal is a proactive response to several significant industry trends: dynamic growth, competition to secure access to energy and raw material resources, and active consolidation to enhance competitive positions. Our global presence, strong financial base, access to hydropower and proprietary technology provide UC RUSAL with a strong platform to support our future development. Our goal is to become an international metals and energy corporation providing leadership in new areas of business."