Oleg Deripaska's United Company Rusal won a third of the seats on Norilsk Nickel's nine-man board at its annual meeting yesterday, strengthening the Russian billionaire's position in a battle to lead a merger to create one of the world's biggest metals and mining groups.

But his rival, Vladimir Potanin, Norilsk Nickel's largest shareholder, kept the upper hand, winning four seats in all, including for himself, the chairman of his holding company Interros, Andrei Klishas, and for Michael Levitt, a business associate, in a vote marred by a row over disclosure.

Source: The Financial Times