Norilsk Nickel said Monday that it expected to pay dividends on time after ousted board chairman Alexander Voloshin signed a protocol from the company’s disputed annual general meeting.
Norilsk received notification Monday that Voloshin had ratified the June 28 AGM, which included a shareholder vote on paying out dividends for 2009 and the election of a new board, Erzhena Mintasova, a spokeswoman for the miner, said by telephone.
“I’ve signed the protocol, but with some reservations because the grievances I have relating to the AGM and how it was conducted remain,” Voloshin said Monday. “I didn’t want ordinary people who own Norilsk shares to suffer due to the conflict around the company.”
Voloshin had previously refused to sign the document after shareholder United Company RusAl said the board vote had been manipulated. RusAl, with a 25 percent stake, won one less seat than billionaire Vladimir Potanin’s Interros Holding, which also holds 25 percent. Norilsk management, voting with 8.5 percent of treasury stock, won three seats, the same as RusAl.
