The merged company has been named the United Company Russian Aluminum. The deal will be finalized by April 1, 2007. RusAl will have a 66% stake in the corporation, while SUAL will hold 22% and Glencore 12%.
"I believe this is a positive factor for the market, and a normal process of commercial enlargement," Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said.
"But the state should take proper measures to ensure competition for this large holding on the Russian market, to prevent monopoly prices [for aluminum]," he said adding that these measures should concern foreign trade regulation and import duties.
"We should remove all barriers and admit global competitors [to Russia] so that they [the new holding] do not raise prices, and consumers do not suffer," Gref said.
He also said the next session of the Consultative Council for Foreign Investments would take place on October 16. State regulation in the economic sphere, the modernization of tax and currency policies, more effective use of natural resources, the improvement of Russia's investment climate, and the development of the food industry will be on the agenda at the session.
