Regulatory News:
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The board of directors of United Company RUSAL Plc ("UC Rusal") (Paris:RUAL) and all directors thereof confirm that the information contained in this announcement does not contain any false statements, misleading representations or material omissions, and all of them jointly and severally accept responsibility as to the truthfulness, accuracy and completeness of the content of this announcement.
Shareholders and investors are advised to exercise caution when dealing in the shares of UC Rusal.
This announcement is issued pursuant to Rule 13.09(1) of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited and applicable French laws and regulations.
Republic of Guinea Case
Reference is made to pages 156-7 of the prospectus of UC Rusal dated 31 December 2009 in relation to the complaint filed on or about 8 May 2009 ("Complaint") by the Republic of Guinea ("RG") in the court of first instance in Kaloum-Conakry ("Lower Court") against Russkij Aluminij LLC ("RA"), a subsidiary of UC Rusal, relating to the sale of shares in Friguia to RA in 2006.
As described in the prospectus, in mid-2009 RA moved to dismiss the Complaint on the ground that the Lower Court lacked jurisdiction; by decision dated 10 September 2009 ("Judgement") the Lower Court denied RA's motion, whereupon RA appealed the denial to the Cour d'Appel of the RG ("Court of Appeal").
After a number of hearings, the Court of Appeal decided in RA's favour in Ruling No.77 dated 16 March 2010, which was made available 17 March 2010, whereby it held that the courts of the RG lack jurisdiction over the case, reversed the Judgment, and referred the parties to arbitration at the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris ("ICC Arbitration") in accordance with the arbitration clause of the relevant share purchase agreement. No such ICC Arbitration is currently pending. The RG may apply for cassation of the Court of Appeal's decision within two months.
By Order of the board of directors of
United Company RUSAL Plc
Tatiana Soina
Director
22 March 2010
As at the date of this announcement, our executive directors are Mr. Oleg Deripaska, Mr. Petr Sinshinov and Ms. Tatiana Soina, our non-executive directors are Mr. Victor Vekselberg (Chairman), Mr. Dmitry Afanasiev, Mr. Len Blavatnik, Mr. Ivan Glasenberg, Mr. Vladimir Kiryukhin, Mr. Alexander Popov, Mr. Dmitry Razumov, Mr. Jivko Savov, Mr. Vladislav Soloviev, Mr. Igor Ermilin and Mr. Anatoly Tikhonov, and our independent non-executive directors are Mr. Peter Nigel Kenny, Mr. Philip Lader, Mr. Barry Cheung Chun-Yuen and Ms. Elsie Leung Oi-sie.
All announcements and press releases published by United Company RUSAL plc are available on its website under the linkshttp://www.rusal.ru/en/stock_fillings.aspx and http://www.rusal.ru/en/press-center.aspx, respectively.
Contacts:
United Company RUSAL Plc