Time is running out for Russia’s richest man on paper to secure more than $2bn in financing to repay part of a $4.5bn loan to western banks before the end of October or hand to creditors a 25 per cent stake in the world’s biggest nickel miner.

Oleg Deripaska’s race to meet creditors’ calls – or face the forced divestment of the stake – highlights the pressure on his vast empire amid the global credit crisis, which has sent Russian stocks down more than 70 per cent since their peak in May.