The world's largest aluminium producer, Rusal, called on Thursday for an extraordinary shareholders' meeting of mining company Norilsk Nickel in September to elect a new board of directors.

Rusal, which holds 25 percent in Norilsk, said in a statement the current board is fully controlled by its rival shareholder Interros and is, therefore, "incapable of reversing a slide" in the company's market value."

The announcement was made less than a week after Norilsk's board installed an ally of Interros owner Vladimir Potanin as the new chief executive. Rusal, owned by Oleg Deripaska, had vehemently opposed the nomination.

Rusal said it is soliciting proposals from minority shareholders for candidates for independent directors and CEO "to ensure that the new board is not controlled by either of the two largest shareholders." Nominees for the new board will be announced once Rusal has filed a demand to convene the extraordinary meeting, the statement said.

Norilsk Nickel spokeswoman Maria Uvarova said the current board – with three Rusal representatives, three Interros managers and three independent directors – meets interests of all shareholders. "We consider the board well-balanced," she said.

An official at Interros, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said Norilsk's investors will know better how to evaluate the company's performance.

Rusal's demand comes as yet another move in a spat between Norilsk's two main shareholders, Potanin and Deripaska.

The two businessmen have failed to reach agreement on how to manage Norilsk since Rusal bought its 25 percent in April from billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, who had promised to Potanin. Interros has been eager to combine Norilsk with Rusal and another steel company, Metalloinvest.

Reacting to Rusal's reluctance to combine, Potanin said last Friday Norilsk will be "consolidating the industry" anyway. – Associated Press