OREANDA-NEWS. On December 09, 2008 OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel (hereinafter – Norilsk Nickel or the Company) has announced that RiskMetrics/ISS Governance Services (RiskMetrics/ISS)  released its analysis and voting recommendations for the 26 December 2008 Extraordinary General Meeting of MMC Norilsk Nickel shareholders (EGM), reported the press-centre of Norilsk Nickel.

RiskMetrics/ISS, the world’s leading independent corporate governance and proxy voting advisory service, provides voting recommendations to more than 1,700 major institutional funds, mutual funds and fiduciaries.

RiskMetrics/ISS recommended that MMC Norilsk Nickel shareholders vote for the early termination of authorities of the current Board of Directors.

On Item 2 of EGM’s agenda – election of the new Board of Directors, RiskMetrics/ISS recommended that MMC Norilsk Nickel shareholders cumulate all of their votes in favour of independent nominees Bradford A. Mills and John Gerard Holden.

RiskMetrics/ISS provided the following notes with respect to recommendations of Mill’s and Holden’s candidatures: “While we recognize the qualifications of all eight independent candidates, as defined by RMG, we believe that, of these, Mills and Holden would be able to best serve all shareholders' interests. Mills' extensive experience in managing mining companies could be of tremendous value to MMC Norilsk Nickel at this crucial time for the company. Holden's experience in both metals and finance makes him uniquely qualified to serve on the company's board of directors, especially given the current market conditions”.

Thus the RiskMetrics/ISS voting recommendations entirely correspond to the recommendations issued by MMC Norilsk Nickel Board of Directors for the EGM.

All the materials for the EGM are disclosed at the following address of MMC Norilsk Nickel web site: http://www.nornik.ru/en/investor/shareholder/meeting/26-12-08/