Potanin5 Jul 2022 11:51
Oligarch Vladimir Potanin, who is a key supporter of the regime in Moscow, has said he is ready to discuss a possible merger of Nornickel - Russia's largest metals and mining company.
During an interview with Russia's RBC TV, Mr Potanin, who is described as Russia's second richest man, said the company needed to diversify its shareholder structure to resist Western sanctions.
He went on to say the proposal came from the Russian aluminium company Rusal - the world's largest aluminium producer outside China.
"I sent a letter today confirming our agreement to start the process of discussing the merger with Rusal," Mr Potanin told RBC.
Following the comments, the Kremlin said that it was not aware of any plan to merge the mining giant with Rusal.
"We know nothing about such notions", Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
Last week, the UK government imposed sanctions on Mr Potanin in an attempt to hit Vladimir Putin's inner circle.
A government spokesperson said: "As long as Putin continues his abhorrent assault on Ukraine, we will use sanctions to weaken the Russian war machine.
"Today’s sanctions show that nothing and no one is off the table, including Putin's inner circle."