Norilsk Nickel On Remand

The Russian central bank began an inquiry into Russia?s largest metals producer and a shareholder of South African goldminer Gold Fields at the same time, Norilsk Nickel Company.

The bank has been reviewing the $1billion purchase made earlier this year of a 20 per cent stake in Gold Fields by Norilsk Nickel, owned by the oligarch Vladimir Potanin, because it has decided that the stake was bought without appropriate authority in Russia and that Potanin will be told to dispose of it.

Norilsk Nickel declared Tuesday its stake holding to be "absolutely legal".
Now Russian metals group has become vital to the ?hostile? takeover bid by South

Africa?s Harmony to its rival Gold Fields, because Norilsk has already pledged its support to Harmony.