The award ceremony was held atthe Conference Russian Bond Congress-2004 onDecember 9, 2004inSt. Petersburg.

MMC Norilsk Nickel and the Russian Academy ofSciences have signed anagreement todevelop ajoint research programme aimed atthe creation and industrial exploitation ofmarket viable technologies and materials utilising palladium inboth hi-tech and science-intensive production.

The swap will last from December 1, 2004till May 31, 2005.