OREANDA-NEWS. On September 21, 2007 UC RUSAL, the world’s largest producer of aluminium and alumina, announced several senior management appointments at its RUSAL America subsidiary to strengthen the Company’s growing presence in the North American market, reported the press-centre of RUSAL.

Sergey Bubnov has been appointed President of RUSAL America, reporting to the RUSAL America Board.  In this role, Mr. Bubnov will oversee the Company’s continued expansion in the North American market.  The Company also announced that Richard Kellner will assume the new role of Chief Operating Officer of RUSAL America, where he will be responsible for running business including finance, accounting and internal controls.  Additionally, Mark Bodner has been appointed Sales Director responsible for sales and marketing strategy and customers relations.  Both Messrs. Kellner and Bodner will report to Mr. Bubnov.  Bruce Markowitz, formerly President of RUSAL America, will leave the Company.

“We are pleased to welcome Sergey Bubnov back to UC RUSAL and are confident that he, along with Richard Kellner and Mark Bodner, will strengthen RUSAL America’s growing business,” said Vladimir Kremer, Director of Sales & Marketing, UC RUSAL.  “Since UC RUSAL entered the market through our predecessor Company in 1999, we have built a strong platform in North America that has enabled us to grow the business in excess of USD 1 bln in annual revenues.  We wish to thank Bruce Markowitz for his contributions to the Company over the last six years and his role in building out our sales and marketing infrastructure in North America.”

Mr. Kremer continued:  “North America continues to be a very important geography for UC RUSAL, and we are committed to capitalizing on the growth opportunity and providing our customers in this market with a broad range of aluminium products – including our growing portfolio of value-added products – to help them meet the demands of their businesses.  We thank our customers in North America for their continued support.”

Sergey Bubnov, 42, joins UC RUSAL from Ferromin Limited, where he served as Director of the Moscow Representative Office of the metals trading since February 2006.  Previously, he was Director of the Export Sales Department at RUSAL from 2003 to 2006.  He joined the Sibirsky Aluminium Company in 1998, holding several senior sales and operating positions, and was a member of the team that established RUSAL’s North American headquarters in New York in 1999.

Richard Kellner, 40, joins UC RUSAL from Next Chapter Associates LLC, a risk management and insurance advisory firm which he founded and will continue to serve as President.  He has extensive experience with Russian businesses, having also served as Vice President of Finance at Access Industries, a boutique private equity firm that focused on developing private Russian companies.  During his tenure, he also held senior roles at portfolio companies and was responsible for building and managing the global trading operations for one of the world’s ten largest integrated aluminium producers.  Mr. Kellner is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a B.S. Degree in Finance and Accounting from the University of Vermont.

Mark Bodner, 58, brings over 31 years of experience in the aluminium industry to RUSAL America.  Mr Bodner has extensive experience in the aluminium industry, primarily in trading.  Mr. Bodner holds an MBA with a concentration in International Business and Marketing from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business.