Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg announced his resignation from the post of the chairman of the board of directors of RusAl, the world’s largest aluminum producer.

In his letter of resignation, Vekselberg, who headed RusAl’s board of directors since the company was founded in 2007, explained his move by disagreements with a number of recent decisions made by the company’s management.

“As a chairman and a member of the board of directors I disagree with a number of decisions made by the management, including without the consent of the board and in violation of the shareholders’ agreements,” Vekselberg said in his letter.

RusAl said in a statement later that the issue of selecting a new chairman of the board of directors would be discussed during the company’s meeting on March 16.

Last December, RusAl had asked creditors for a twelve-month grace period on its loans in 2012, saying the company might be unable to service its debt, if world aluminum prices continued falling.

According to Metropol investment company analyst Sergei Filchenkov, RusAl had to pay around $980 million in interest in 2012 and the company might face difficulties this year as world aluminum prices plunged by 28 percent from last year's record high on May 3 to $1,974 per ton, almost to the level of the company's production cost.

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