Russian aluminium giant charged with fraud

Two metals trading companies in the United States say they have begun proceedings against the Russian aluminium company, Roussal.

The trading companies, Base Metal Trading and Alucoal said they were suing Roussal for nearly three billion dollars in damages for alleged fraud and corruption.

They said they had filed a suit in the US federal court in New York.

A spokesman for Roussal, the world's second largest aluminium group, dismissed the suit as absurd.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service