Norilsk Nickel - three's a crowd Two's company, three's a crowd. The long-running spat between Vladimir Potanin's Interros and Oleg Deripaska's Rusal over control of Norilsk Nickel epitomises a less attractive side of investing in corporate Russia. Probably only the Moscow State Circus offers more breathtaking stunts. Now Millhouse Capital, run by another Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, has entered the ring. Announcements on Tuesday show that Millhouse will buy a 7 per cent stake in Norilsk Nickel. The stake will be dwarfed by the 28 per cent owned by Interros and Rusal's 25 per cent. It will give Millhouse three board seats to the duo's four each. But can Mr Abramovich really end the conflict and improve governance? Investors were convinced enough to mark up Norilsk Nickel shares by 2 per cent. If nothing else, the deal should forestall direct intervention by the Kremlin. A three-way pact among the billionaire shareholders provides for penalties for any breach of its terms: the party in breach could lose part of its stake. With Mr Abramovich on board, Mr Deripaska will have to shelve his desire to win control of Norilsk Nickel. He and Mr Potanin will even call off a looming court case in London. Rusal investors should welcome the agreement's provision for "stability" of dividends from Norilsk Nickel, whose cash flows, not least from the Millhouse inflow, allow for a richer payout than its 25 per cent ratio. Rusal still has $11bn of net debt to clear - more than 10 times consensus earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation - from buying its Norilsk Nickel stake. Investors" upbeat reaction looks premature. There is not yet enough clarity about Norilsk Nickel's payout plans. Governance will improve only if the miner is seen to be run for all investors, not just the triumvirate. Still, an uneasy truce is better than the status quo.