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Moscow, 3 August 2004: SUAL Holding today announces that Brian Gilbertson has assumed the position of President of SUAL Holding. Chris Norval, who held this position previously, is leaving the Group by mutual agreement.
Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of SUAL Holding, commenting on the announcement, said: «I am delighted that Brian Gilbertson has accepted the position of President of SUAL Holding. He brings a wealth of experience in the global mining and metals industries and his expertise will be of great value to SUAL. I believe that together we will be able to successfully develop SUAL into a leading international company.
Brian Gilbertson, incoming President of SUAL Holding, said: «I am pleased to be taking up an executive position at SUAL at a time when Russian resource groups are re-shaping their roles in the global industry. SUAL, in particular, offers much potential to build its asset base in Russia, and to expand its activities internationally. I look forward to participating in SUAL's new growth phase.»
Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of SUAL Holding, added: «I thank Chris Norval for the important contribution he has made at SUAL since joining us in early 2003. During his tenure as President, he assembled an international management team and implemented international accounting standards across the Group, which have now formed the basis for our reporting for the last three years. In addition, Chris has laid the foundations for the future development of SUAL's key business projects.»
Notes to editors:
Brian Gilbertson Brian Gilbertson grew up in South Africa where he obtained a BSc degree, majoring in Mathematics and Physics, from Rhodes University. He also received a BSc (Hons) in Physics and an MSc in Physics from Rhodes University and was awarded an MBL by the University of South Africa.
In 1975 Mr Gilbertson began work at the Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company Ltd (JCI) and Rustenburg Platinum Mines Limited (RPM), which over this period gained recognition as the world's foremost producer of platinum.
In 1988 Mr Gilbertson left JCI to become an Executive Director of Gencor Limited. His first task was to resurrect Gencor's ailing coal arm, Trans-Natal Limited, which subsequently evolved into the world's premier steam coal exporter. In 1992, Mr Gilbertson became Executive Chairman of Gencor.
In July 1997, Gencor sold its non-precious metals interests to a new London-domiciled corporation, named Billiton Plc. A well-timed IPO (raising USD 1.5 billion) took Billiton into London's FTSE100, with Mr Gilbertson as Executive Chairman.
In July 2001, Billiton merged with BHP Ltd to create the world's premier resource company. The integration process was widely recognised as rapid and successful. Mr Gilbertson became Chief Executive of BHP Billiton on 1 July 2002.
In late 2003, he led mining group Vedanta Resources Plc to the first primary listing of an Indian company on the London Stock Exchange in the second-largest IPO of the year (USD 876 million). Recently, Mr Gilbertson also worked as a consultant to Lonmin plc, the London-listed platinum group.
About SUAL The SUAL Group is a vertically integrated business and is among the ten largest aluminium producers in the world. SUAL comprises enterprises involved in bauxite mining, alumina refining, production of silicon, aluminium, semi-finished and finished aluminium products. Annually, the operations of the SUAL Group: • Mine some 4.4 million tonnes of bauxite • Refine more than 2 million tonnes of alumina • Produce over 890,000 tonnes of primary aluminium • Produce more than 50,000 tonnes of silicon • Manufacture more than 110,000 tonnes of aluminium products
In 2004, SUAL completed audited IAS accounts for the three years to 31 December 2003. 2003 revenue was USD 1.7 billion compared with USD 1.3 billion in 2002.
Total assets as of 31 December 2003 amounted to USD 2.1 billion, compared to USD 1.8 billion as of 31 December 2002. The increase in assets was driven by capital expenditure (USD 125 million in 2003).
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