MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) - The board of Russian mining giant Nornickel has rejected a proposal by shareholder and aluminium company Rusal to replace the board's chairman, a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Rusal had proposed replacing current chairman Andrei Bugrov from Nornickel chief executive Vladimir Potanin's Interros holding company with independent director Evgeny Shvarts.

"A majority of board members voted against Rusal's proposals," the source said, adding that the board had confirmed the existing chairman's mandate.

Nornickel and Rusal did not immediately provide comments.

A years-long row between the companies, two of Russia's largest metals firms, escalated late last year as the expiry date of a decade-old shareholder agreement approached.

Rusal filed a

lawsuit

in London alleging that Potanin was in breach of the deal, which expired at the end of 2022.

Potanin, whose Interros company owns 37% of Nornickel, said the deal would not be extended. Rusal holds 26.4% of the company.

The dispute centred on an agreement brokered by Moscow in 2012 between Potanin and Rusal, which protected its dividend payouts. Rusal was at the time controlled by Oleg Deripaska. (Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)