Norilsk Nickel to cut 10 pct Moscow office staff

MOSCOW Oct 31 (Reuters) - Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM), the world's largest nickel miner, will cut 10 percent of the workforce at its central office in Moscow due to the financial crisis, Norilsk spokesman Viktor Borodin said on Friday. The cuts will not affect production and do not apply to Norilsk employees at the company's mines and smelters in the Russian Arctic, he added.

"Norilsk Nickel has taken the decision to make 135 people from the Moscow office redundant, and also to cut some of the social programmes that the company could allow itself prior to the crisis," Borodin said, without giving further details.

Norilsk has previously said it would revise its investment programme for 2009, partly as a result of falling nickel prices. The company supplies about one-fifth of the world's nickel. (Reporting by Polina Devitt, writing by Robin Paxton)