Slobodin leaves Vimpelcom due to T Plus case, to be replaced by Vimpelcom Ltd exec
MOSCOW. Sept 6 (Interfax) - Mikhail Slobodin stepped down from his position as CEO of Vimpelcom , one of Russia's top three mobile service providers, on September 5.
The resignation was preceded by Monday's news regarding Slobodin and his prior employer, power company T Plus , the Russian operator's parent company, Vimpelcom Ltd said in a press release. T Plus is a division of billionaire Viktor Vekselberg's Renova Group.
Slobodin decided himself to leave the company, Vimpelcom's press service told Interfax.
Vimpelcom Ltd's business in Russia will be headed by Kjell Morten Johnsen, who is now the company's head of major markets and was previously a senior executive at Norway's Telenor.
"Vimpelcom is operating as usual. These events are having no impact on services provided to customers, business processes and the company's work in general," the Russian operator's press service said.
It was reported on Monday that Slobodin is a person of interest in a criminal investigation into corruption related to the operations of T Plus, formerly known as IES Holding, which Slobodin headed from 2002 to January 2011.
Slobodin became CEO of Vimpelcom in September 2013 and in late August this year the company's board of directors renewed his contract for another three years. It was with Slobodin that Vimpelcom ended a period of frequent CEO changes. Since April 2009, when Alexander Izosimov resigned as CEO, Vimpelcom has been headed by Boris Nemshich and Alexander Torbakhov (2009-2010), Yelena Shmatova (2010-2011) and Anton Kudryashov (2011-2013).
Vimpelcom has not said yet whether Johnsen will hold the position of CEO. Prior to joining Vimpelcom Ltd, he was Telenor vice president for operations in Europe from 2012. He left the management board of the Norwegian telecom company, which currently owns 33% of Vimpelcom Ltd, in November 2015. He headed Telenor's division in Serbia from 2009 and the division in Russia from 2006. From 2011 to 2015 he also served on the supervisory board of Vimpelcom Ltd, and from 2007-2013 on the board of the Russian division PJSC Vimpelcom. Prior to entering the telecom sector, Johnsen worked at the French and Ukrainian division of Norwegian oil and gas company Norsk Hydro.
The spokesman for Russia's Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin said on Monday that investigators were trying to establish Slobodin's whereabouts.
Slobodin was reported as saying by business daily Vedomosti that he was on a business trip to France and planned to return to Russia at the end of the week in order to answer investigators' questions.
"We did in fact do business in Komi. We will clarify what we're being accused of. I'll answer all questions," Slobodin was quoted as saying by the paper.
Markin also said that the authorities have detained and plan to ask the courts to arrest two directors of T Plus in the case concerning bribery in the Komi Republic.
"The persons of interest in the criminal case are Mikhail Slobodin, [Renova Group managing director] Yevgeny Olkhovik and [current T Plus CEO] Boris Vainzikher, who were the heads of CJSC IES in the period from 2007 to 2014, and other so far unidentified persons," Markin told Interfax on Monday.
He said Olkhovik and Vainzikher have been detained. "In regard to the detained, the investigators will petition for restrictive measures in the form of confinement under guard," Markin said.
He said that the Investigative Committee's division for Komi is continuing a criminal investigation concerning the former and current heads of Integrated Energy Systems (IES), who are suspected of giving particularly large bribes, a crime covered by Part 5, Article 291 of Russia's Criminal Code.
According to the investigators' information, the persons of interest, as well as other unidentified persons, acting in the interests of CJSC IES and its affiliates, gave cash and other assets as bribes to senior officials in the Komi government, who are currently the subjects of a criminal case concerning the criminal network of former Komi Governor Vyacheslav Gaizer. The bribes were allegedly given for setting the most advantageous tariffs for heat and electricity, as well as providing other benefits and creating comfortable conditions for conducting commercial activities in Komi.
"Money was transferred to the settlement accounts of companies designated by the bribe recipients. The total amount of funds transferred as monetary reward was more than 800 million rubles. In addition, according to existing agreements, 38% of shares in OJSC Komi Energy Retail Company worth at least 100 million rubles, owned by an offshore company affiliated with CJSC IES, were transferred to the ownership of an offshore company controlled by top officials of the Komi Republic through a number of successive transactions," Markin said.