MOSCOW, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Russian aluminium producer Rusal said Friday it had given up plans to float on the London stock exchange by the end of the year, blaming financial market turmoil.

'The IPO (initial public offering) is frozen due to the current state of the markets,' Rusal shareholder Viktor Vekselberg told Interfax news agency.

But the company insisted it would eventually put its shares up for sale in London.

DUSHANBE, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Tajikistan on Wednesday scrapped an agreement with Russian aluminium giant Rusal for the construction of a hydroelectric power station, the Tajik president's office said.

'The agreement on long-term co-operation between the government of Tajikistan and Russian Aluminium has been annulled,' President Emomali Rakhmon's office said in a statement.

Rusal's office in the Tajik capital Dushanbe declined to comment.

MOSCOW, Aug 7, 2007 (AFP) - Six Russians working for the Russian aluminium company Rusal have been freed more than two months after they were kidnapped in Nigeria's oil-rich south, the company said Wednesday.

Officials from Rusal and the Russian government told Interfax news agency that no ransom had been paid.

'The liberation of these hostages is the fruit of the joint efforts of Rusal, the Russian authorities and the Nigerian security forces,' the company said in a statement.