MOSCOW, July 31 - RAPSI. The Third Commercial Court of Appeals will hear on September 10 Norilsk Nickel's appeal against a lower court order obligating the company to give copies of various business documents to Rusal, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency.

Earlier, Norilsk Nickel appealed the Krasnoyarsk Territorial Commercial Court's judgment dated June 4 partially upholding Rusal's lawsuit.

The court ordered Norilsk Nickel to provide nine documents to the company, but refused to give the plaintiff tax audit reports for 2009 and 2010 and financial statements for 2008 and 2009 and the first six months of 2010. Rusal's request for the 2009 audit report was also denied.

Earlier, the court refused to involve Glencore International as a third party upon the defendant's request.

Commenting on the motion, Norilsk Nickel said it had "reason to believe" that Rusal is acting on behalf of its major rival Glencore International in demanding the documents.
Glencore International holds a 35 percent stake in Xstrata, another major producer in the sector.

The defendant also said Glencore International is a major Rusal shareholder and has access to its information under an agreement between En+, SUAL Partners, Glencore International and Onexim. The dispute has already been handled by the court, which sided with Rusal in March 2011, ordering Norilsk Nickel to give the company all of the requested documents, including the minutes of its board meetings in 2009-2010.

Rusal owns a blocking share in Norilsk Nickel.

During the hearing, Rusal said it asked for the documents to check the integrity of the company's management and to objectively evaluate its financial situation.

Norilsk Nickel is the world's largest nickel producer (18 percent of worldwide output) and palladium producer (nearly 50 percent of worldwide output). It is also a leading platinum producer (around 13 percent of worldwide output) and copper producer (2.5 percent of worldwide output). The company also produces cobalt, chrome, rhodium, silver, iridium, ruthenium, selenium, tellurium and sulfur.