Moldovagaz shareholders do not approve 2023 financials due to lack of votes - chairman of board

CHISINAU. May 29 (Interfax) - Shareholders of JSC Moldovagaz reviewed the financial report for 2023 at their annual meeting, but did not approve it as it did not receive the required number of votes, chairman of the board of the company, Vadim Ceban, said in his telegram channel.

He said that at the company earned a net profit of 1.09 billion lei last year, equivalent to $62.8 million. "The positive result is due to profits from financial activities, which is explained by the requirement of the current legislation to reassess the company's historical debt to creditors [Gazprom and Factoring - Finance], amid a noticeable decrease in the exchange rate [strengthening of the national currency]," Ceban said.

The shareholders took note of the information about the work conducted in order to develop a new edition of the charter of Moldovagaz, as well as the corporate governance code, and instructed the company's board to complete the approval of drafts of these documents with the main shareholders, he said.

In addition, the updated composition of the company's supervisory board was approved. It includes Deputy Chairman of the Board of Gazprom Vitaly Markelov, Member of the Board, Department Head (legal support) Sergei Kuznets, Head of Management, Deputy Department Head Kirill Neuymin, as well as Department Head Dmitry Khandoga. The Republic of Moldova will be represented on the supervisory board by the State Secretary of the Energy Ministry, Carolina Novak, and a representative of civil society, an expert in the field of finance and energy, Sergei Tofilat.

The main shareholders of Moldovagaz are Gazprom with 50%, the Public Property Agency under the Government of Moldova with 35.33% and the Transdniestria Property Management Committee with 13.44%. Minority shareholders own the remaining shares. The Transdniestrian region transferred its shares to the management of Gazprom.

As previously reported, Moldovagaz earned a net profit of 1.094 billion lei in 2023 against a net loss of 323.2 million lei in 2022, the annual report says. The report also mentions Moildovagaz's historical debt to Gazprom of $709 million. Auditors selected by Moldova without coordination with Gazprom did not confirm the existence of this debt based on the results of their audit, the results of which were made public in September 2023. However, neither Moldovagaz nor main shareholder Gazprom recognized the validity of the audit results.