HONG KONG: Russian aluminum giant UC RUSAL has appointed two non-executive directors from Hong Kong, including former Secretary of Justice Elsie Leung Oi-Sie. Leung is also a qualified solicitor and a former member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government.

Barry Cheung Chun-Yuen, chairman of the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange and the Hong Kong Urban Renewal Authority, was also appointed as non-executive director. He has worked for consultancy firm McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles and Hong Kong.

"Given UC RUSAL's long-term strategic interest in China and the wider Asian region, we have been looking for directors who have direct experience in these markets to give us advice," said Oleg Deripaska, RUSAL's largest shareholder and chief executive, in a statement yesterday.

Deripaska, once ranked Russia's richest man, built RUSAL into the world's largest aluminum producer before the economic crisis wiped out 60 percent of the value of the metal and left the company struggling to service its debts.

News of the appointments came as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has delayed the firm's planned $2 billion share float, as it looks to boost its presence in China.

The stock exchange's listing committee needed more time to study the $16.8 billion debt restructuring accord Rusal completed last week, people familiar with the matter were quoted as saying by Bloomberg news. The snag will delay the IPO until next year, the people said.

RUSAL, controlled by billionaire Oleg Deripaska, wanted to capitalize on a 55 percent jump in Hong Kong's benchmark stock Index in 2009 to become the first Russian company to list in the city. The IPO would have helped Deripaska expand in China, where a government stimulus has revived economic growth, helping boost demand for aluminum.

The delay has put RUSAL on the back burner again after the company last week clinched a $17 billion debt restructuring deal, Russia's biggest ever.

"This is a really big smack in the face for RUSAL," John Meyer, head of natural resources at investment bank Fairfax I.S. Plc in London, said by phone. "It also means it may be halfway through next year before the IPO is conducted, and unfortunately for them, the outlook is anything but certain."

Moscow-based RUSAL was seeking to sell a 10 percent stake to help repay debt incurred after buying OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, Russia's biggest mining company. More than 70 Russian and foreign banks reached the debt accord with Rusal in Russia's largest corporate restructuring.

"The stock exchange is prepared to work with challenging companies and they have a lot of confidence in their system," said Anthony Root, head of Asian corporate practice at New York-based law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP. The exchange won't grant approval for a share sale "until they are confident it's one that's fit for listing."

Lorraine Chan, a spokeswoman for Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd, declined to comment or confirm whether the listing committee has met for a RUSAL IPO plan.

China Daily/Agencies

(HK Edition 12/09/2009 page4)