Bad weather delays Putin Norilsk visit

NORILSK, Russia, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's plane was diverted from the airport of the Arctic town of Norilsk to another town of Khatanga on Monday because of bad weather, his spokesman said on Monday.

Putin was due to Norilsk, the hometown of mining giant Norilsk Nickel, amid a dispute between two powerful tycoons who each own 25 percent in the world's largest nickel and palladium producer.

'Due to unpredictable weather conditions the prime minister's plane could not land in Norilsk. The visit has been postponed until a later date,' Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

From Khatanga, which is 1,300 km to the north east of Norilsk, Putin was due to continue his trip around Russia's East Siberia and Far East, which will last several days.

Rumours about the state buying Norilsk, which has a market capitalisation of $32 billion, have hit the market regularly over the past decade as the Kremlin tightened control of natural resources.

(Reporting by Darya Korsunskaya, writing by Dmitry Zhdannikov) Keywords: PUTIN NORILSK/ ([e-mail], [phone], Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.