Scene set for September EGM (416 words)

Published: 8/10/2001

Aeroflot has reported that its board of directors has approved a list of candidates for the EGM on 6th September 2001. The state, as the majority shareholder, has put up eight candidates. These are as follows: · Alexander Braverman, the first deputy Property Minister · Evgeny Shaposhnikov, Advisor to President on Aerospace · German Gref, Economics Development and Trade Minister · Sergey Frank, Transportation Minister · Sergey Molozhavy, Deputy Minister of State Property · Vladimir Chernuhin, Deputy Minister of Finance · Vladimir Goryachev, the head of economic regulations department with the Transportation Minister · Yury Zaostrovtsev, Deputy Director of Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) All the state's representatives, with the exception of Zaostrovtsev, are currently members of the board, so there are no surprises here. The inclusion of the Deputy Director of the FSB, the successor to the KGB and the President Putin's alma mater could also be explained by the fact that Putin has used both serving and former senior FSB officers in his efforts to gain greater control of many aspects of the state's activities and interests. More difficult to interpret is the fact that that one of the state's nominees, Goryachev, appears to have been allocated none of the votes from the state's stake. The submission of a candidate, particularly from the Ministry of Transport, appears a curious tactic, as the government has put forward the same number of candidates as at the AGM in May, despite the likelihood of it conceding seats to new shareholders. Predictably, Aeroflot has proposed Valery Okulov, Aeroflot's General Director, although Alexander Zurabov, Aeroflot number two and Finance Director has been nominated by Roman Abramovitch's Russian Aluminium and Sibneft grouping. They have also nominated the following candidates: · Alexander Komrakov, Director of corporate relations with Russian Aluminum Management · Mikhail Vinchel, General Director of Prospect Investment Company (advisor to RusAl) · Alexander Nemtsov, Executive Director of Profit House (advisor to RusAl). As only nine directors can be elected, some of the nominees will be unsuccessful. It would seem likely that the major casualties will be on the government side, as reports have suggested that the new shareholders are insistent on receiving four seats. Given the level of horse trading that has taken place before the announcement of these nominees, it is realistic to expect that some agreement has been reached by the parties involved that allows the new shareholders a significant presence, if not the four seats sought.

Article ID: 2696