( Financial Times ) -- Two Russian billionaires have clashed publicly over corporate governance at the world 's largest aluminium company , after Viktor Vekselberg said United Company Rusal was in `` deep crisis '' because of bad management and a heavy debt load . Mr Vekselberg resigned as Rusal 's chairman on Monday night , saying it had been transformed from `` a world leader in the aluminium industry into a company overburdened by debt and involved in a huge number of legal battles and social conflicts '' . Oleg Deripaska , Rusal 's controlling shareholder and chief executive , hit back at Mr Vekselberg on Tuesday . `` There is no crisis , either deep or shallow . There is a difficult situation on the market which determines the economic results , '' he said , adding that Rusal would replace him with an independent chairman . Rusal , which suspended its Hong Kong-listed shares on Tuesday , had earlier said that Mr Vekselberg failed `` to perform his duties as a public company board chairman '' . A spokesman for Mr Vekselberg declined to comment on Rusal 's accusation . Rusal 's shares were down over 3 per cent as trading resumed Wednesday morning in Hong Kong . Falling aluminium prices and heavy debts have cast a cloud over Rusal since it launched an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange in early 2010 . The company attracted large investments from the financier Nathaniel Rothschild , hedge fund manager John Paulson and two of Asia 's richest men , Hong Kong-based billionaires Li Ka-shing and Robert Kuok . The stock is now 43 per cent below its IPO price . Rusal 's IPO was controversial in the Chinese territory because of corporate governance concerns , and regulators initially restricted its sale to retail investors . Rusal 's banks , which could have called in the company 's loans if aluminium prices continued to fall , gave it a 12-month reprieve in January . Mr Deripaska said the agreement would allow Rusal to service its $ 11.4bn debt . Mr Vekselberg co-owns a 15.8 per cent stake in Rusal with another Russian oligarch , Leonard Blavatnik . Mr Vekselberg and Mr Deripaska have also been at odds over whether Rusal should sell its 25 per cent stake in Norilsk Nickel , the world 's biggest nickel miner . Mr Vekselberg has been seeking to sell many of his Russian assets over the past year , and supported a $ 12.8bn offer from Norilsk to buy back most of Rusal 's stake . The deal , made at a big premium to the market price at the time , would have allowed Rusal to pay off its $ 11.4bn debt burden and begin paying dividends to shareholders . But Mr Deripaska , who sees Norilsk as a `` strategic asset '' , refused to sell . A person close to one of the shareholders claimed the problems had broken out over a potential sale of Mr Vekselberg 's stake in Rusal . Mr Deripaska declined to comment on which shareholders Mr Vekselberg had been in discussions with . He said : `` [ Mr Vekselberg ] has been receiving proposals all the time , but he always refuses them and raises the price . '' © The Financial Times Limited 2012 .
Two Russian billionaires clash on governance at the world 's largest aluminium company , . Viktor Vekselberg said Rusal was in `` deep crisis '' because of bad management . Oleg Deripaska , Rusal 's chief executive , said 'there is no crisis '