MOSCOW (Dow Jones)--The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, or FAS, will not agree to the formation of a state metals monopoly, The Moscow Times reported Wednesday.
The newspaper, citing Alexei Ulyanov, FAS's head of industrial control, said the service might approve only the proposed merger between Russian miner OAO Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.RS) and Metalloinvest, owned by tycoon Alisher Usmanov, but the approval would come with restrictions.
Ulyanov said FAS has not yet received any applications for mergers.
Oleg Deripaska, chief executive of United Company Rusal, and Vladimir Potanin, Norilsk Nickel's majority shareholder, have proposed the formation of a metals and mining giant based on Norilsk, Metalloinvest, fertilizer producer Uralkali (URKA.RS) and coal producer OAO Raspadskaya (RASP.RS) Raspadskaya