Rusal/Norilsk: Clear goal, bumpy path

Oleg Deripaska has taken a major step towards his goal of building a Russian metal and mining giant. But the next one looks more uncertain. The majority owner of Rusal, the world’s largest aluminium producer, has just bought a 25% stake in Norilsk, the nickel giant, from Mikhail Prokhorov, another oligarch. But Deripaska is still far from a fully-fledged merger because Vladimir Potanin, Prokhorov’s former friend and ally, owns a 29% stake in Norilsk and is playing hard to get. A falling out be...