MegaFon plans to reelect board of directors at TeliaSonera's initiative
MOSCOW. July 4 (Interfax) - The board of directors of OJSC MegaFon will meet in absentia on July 9 to discuss calling an extraordinary shareholder meeting that would terminate the powers of the current board and elect a new one, the mobile operator reported.
MegaFon's current board of directors was formed less than a week ago at its annual general shareholder meeting on June 28.
TeliaSonera initiated the idea of reelecting the board, a source close to MegaFon's shareholders told Interfax.
He said the list of candidates to the board for voting at the annual meeting was compiled back in January (by law, the deadline is January 30). TeliaSonera's management underwent changes after that date. Its CEO Lars Nyberg left the company (he was removed from the board of directors at MegaFon's June 28 meeting), as did its Vice President for Corporate Communications Cecilia Edstrom, who ended up on MegaFon's new board of directors. In all likelihood, it is precisely her participation on the board that will be affected by the reelection, the source said.
MegaFon's press service confirmed that the extraordinary shareholder meeting is being scheduled at TeliaSonera's initiative to reelect its representatives on the board.
As reported, MegaFon's shareholders approved a new board of directors on June 28. Nyberg was left off the board and replaced by TeliaSonera's Vice President Jan Henrik Ahrnell.
The other board directors retained their seats, including USM Advisors head Vladimir Streshinsky, former MegaFon CEO and board chairman Sergei Soldatenkov, Jan Erixon of LLC Olimp, who were all nominated by the companies of controlling shareholder Alisher Usmanov; Hogia AB chairman Jan Rudberg and former UK Treasury Minister Paul Myners, both independents; and Edstrom.
The chairman of MegaFon's board of directors is scheduled for election at a board meeting on July 15. According to the company's press service, Soldatenkov will remain chairman until then.
MegaFon's board has seven directors, including three representatives of the controlling shareholder, two representatives of TeliaSonera and two independent directors.
This board structure was established after MegaFon's initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange and Moscow Exchange in November 2012. Garsdale owns 50% plus 100 shares in MegaFon, TeliaSonera owns 25.174% and the operator's subsidiary MegaFon Investments owns 7.57%. Usmanov's USM Holdings owns 82% of Garsdale, and Telconet Capital and state corporation Rostec own the remaining shares.
