"This situation (at Norilsk Nickel) has changed for the better thanks to the company's management and the owners' sense of social responsibility, although they have not yet resolved all their issues," Putin said during a meeting with coal and mining industry representatives in the Kremlin to mark Miners' Day, an upcoming industry holiday.

"We hope all their disagreements will be resolved in the interests of (Norilsk Nickel) operations and the people who work at its plants," he added.

Businessman Vladimir Potanin is the largest shareholder of Norilsk. He has been locked in a struggle for control of the Arctic miner with Oleg Deripaska, whose aluminum company RUSAL (0486.HK) owns a 25 percent stake in Norilsk. (Reporting by Gleb Bryanski; Writing by Polina Devitt)

• A Permanent Economic Emergency