21 Apr 2022 17:25

One third of Novatek board changed, Mikhelson reelected chairman for further 5 years

MOSCOW. April 21 (Interfax) - Novatek shareholders have elected a new board of directors at their annual general meeting, which was changed by a third and reduced by one person.

The new members of the board are Aleksey V. Orel, a member of the supervisory board of the Russian Gas Society; Irina V. Gayda, director of the Skolkovo Energy Center, and Emmanuel Quidet: President of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the shareholders told Interfax after the announcement of voting results during the meeting.

One of Novatek's major shareholders, businessman Gennady Timchenko, who is subject to sanctions by the United States, the EU, Japan, and the UK, and Robert Castaigne, a holder of the French National Order of the Legion of Honor and a member of the board of France's Vinci, left the board of directors. Furthermore, the board of directors no longer includes the deceased Viktor Orlov, president of the Russian Geological Society.

Leonid Mikhelson, the majority shareholder and head of Novatek, Andrey Akimov, head of Gazprombank from Gazprom Capital, two representatives from TotalEnergies - Arnaud Le Foll and Dominique Marion, former director of the Energy Center at Skolkovo Moscow School of Management Tatiana Mitrova and Alexander Natalenko, Novatek board chairman since 2004, retained their seats on the board.

Gayda, Mitrova and Quidet were found to meet the criteria of independence.

As reported, VolgaGroup, through which Timchenko owns 23.5% of Novatek, has not formally nominated a candidate to the board. The company stressed that the businessman has not sold his stake.

Shareholders also reelected Leonid Mikhelson as chairman of the board for another five-year term, effective May 25, 2022.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Audit was reelected as the company's auditor.

According to the latest disclosed data, the largest shareholders of Novatek are businessmen Mikhelson (24.76%) and Gennady Timchenko (23.49%), TotalEnergies (19.4%), and Gazprom (9.99%). Less than 20% of shares are traded abroad.