19 May 2010 16:18

RussNeft shareholders to present list of candidates for new board in May

MOSCOW. May 19 (Interfax) - Shareholders in RussNeft will present their candidates for the new board of directors before the end of May, a source close to the shareholders told Interfax.

The number of seats on the board will be expanded to 14. Mikhail Gutseriev and AFK Sistema will each have five representatives. Sberbank Russia and Glencore will receive two seats each. Sberbank will give one of its votes to Gutseriev, the source said.

"This issue should be resolved before the end of May," he said.

The new board of directors might be elected at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders or at the annual meeting, which should be held before the end of June.

The question of whether Gutseriev will be appointed president of RussNeft should also be decided before the end of May, the source said.

The RussNeft board currently has five members: RussNeft President Oleg Gordeyev, Senior Vice President for Economics and Finance Olga Prozorovskaya, Anton Zhuchenko, the advisor to the general director of Corporate Investment and Technologies LLC, Glencore representative Yana Tikhonova and Sberbank representative Ashot Khachaturyants.

It was reported earlier that Sistema closed the purchase of a 49% stake in RussNeft at the end of April. Gutseriev owns another 49% and Sberbank, the company's main creditor, has 2%.

RTS$#&: AFKS, RUSN, SBER