UPDATE 1-INTERVIEW-UC RUSAL, Norilsk can challenge BHP Billiton

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* UC RUSAL IPO by end 2009, shares to finance takeovers

* No offer on table for TNK-BP stake

By Melissa Akin

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - United Company RUSAL and Norilsk Nickel (GMKN.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) should pool their assets to take on global giants like BHP Billiton and seek takeover targets around the world, RUSAL's chairman said in an interview on Friday.

"The issue of uniting RUSAL and Norilsk Nickel has been discussed for a long time in various forms and configurations," said Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who is also a major shareholder in the aluminium powerhouse.

"For the Russian economy and for the world economy, the appearance of a new player which could compete with leaders like BHP Billiton is very important."

For a table of the world's biggest mining companies, see [ID:nL01320412].

Russian companies, war chests overflowing from a long-running boom in energy and commodities, have been banding together to increase their might and stake out leading positions on global markets, tacitly encouraged by outgoing President Vladimir Putin's Kremlin.