RusHydro, RUSAL ask VEB to postpone Boguchansky smelter launch

MOSCOW, Nov 28 (PRIME) -- Russian hydropower company RusHydro and aluminum giant UC RUSAL have asked state-controlled Vnesheconombank to agree on the postponement of the Boguchansky aluminum smelter launch until August 2014, RusHydro CEO Yevgeny Dod told reporters late Wednesday.

In October, RUSAL said that it had postponed the launch of the Krasnoyarsk Region-based smelter until June 2014 from late 2013.

Dod said that VEB had not yet provided any response. “I think it may take up to two months,” he said. “Technologically, the launch may take place any time, the question is only in the global aluminum price,” he added.

The aluminum smelter is part of the BEMO hydropower and aluminum project that is being implemented by RusHydro and UC RUSAL. The Boguchansky smelter was scheduled to reach its projected capacity of 600,000 tonnes in 2015.

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