Ivanov leaves Polyus Int. presidency, board of directors, Pikhoya takes board seat
MOSCOW. April 2(Interfax) - Jersey-based Polyus Gold International Ltd. General Director German Pikhoya has obtained a seat on the company's board of directors, the company announced on Monday.
"Mr. Pikhoya was previously a member of the company's board of directors from august 2009 to July 2011 and is currently the chief executive officer of the company," the company said. "Mr. Yevgeny Ivanov has stepped down from the company's board of directors and his role as president of the company. Mr. Ivanov's contribution and valued advice to the Company over the past few years is gratefully acknowledged," it said.
"We are very pleased to welcome German Pikhoya to the board. He brings a wealth of experience, having been a core part of Polyus Gold's development over the last ten years, and the Board looks forward to working with him. In addition, we would like to acknowledge our thanks to Yevgeny Ivanov for his contribution and valued advice to the Board over the past few years," the company said.
Pikhoya was on the board from August of 2009, when OJSC Polyus Gold became the controlling shareholder of KazakhGold, to July of 2011 when it was absorbed and the company was transformed into Polyus International. Ivanov has relinquished his seat on the board and stepped down as Polyus International's president.
Ivanov's duties were focused on tasks involved in getting the Polyus holding company premium listing on the London Stock Exchange. The company told Interfax on Monday that his functions have been distributed among management.
Pikhoya thus replaces Ivanov as the chair of the Polyus Int. board. He, CFO Oleg Ignatov, and head of the company's Krasnoyarsk division left the then KazakhGold board in July of 2011. Ivanov, who had chaired the board, remained executive director, and Robert Buchan was tapped as independent non-executive director. Buchan headed Kinross Gold Corporation from 1993 to 2005.
Other non-executive directors on the Polyus Int board are Onexim group chief Dmitry Razumov, the director of Nafta Moskva offices Nafta Moskva (Cyprus) Ltd. Anna Kolonchina and Nafta Moskva board of directors chair Alexander Mosionzhik. Independent the non-executive directors are The Policy Partnership Ltd. partner and founder and chief audit director at Saudi Arabian Mining Company Kobus Moolman and managing partners at the international legal firm Kkadden Arps Slate Meagher Flom Bruse Buck and Adrian Coates.
Pikhoya took over Polyus in July of last year after main company beneficiary Mikhail Prokhorov departed the post. Prior to that, Pikhoya was deputy director for strategy and corporate development. Ivanov headed Polyus until December of 2010, and with Prokhorov's arrival as general director of the Russian company was appointed the chief of Polyus Int (KazakhGold at the time) to focus on the group's international projects.
After a reverse takeover (RTO) deal in 2011, Polyus Int (formerly KazakhGold) gained control of Polyus Gold, Russia's largest gold producer, developing ore and alluvial deposits in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Irkutsk, Magadan and Amur regions in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), as well as Kazakh and Romanian assets earlier owned by KazakhGold. Polyus Int produced 1.1497 million oz (46.562 tonnes) of gold in 2011, and the guidance for 2012 is 1.6 million oz including the Kazakhstan-based assets, which produce around 100,000 oz per year.