Fortum board chooses new CEO at Property Agency's request, fmr Bashneft manager named

MOSCOW. April 26 (Interfax) - The board of directors of Fortum, in accordance with the requirement put forward by the Federal Property Management Agency on April 25, 2023, made the decision to elect a new CEO, Vyacheslav Kozhevnikov, Fortum reported.

"I would like to appeal to every employee of PJSC Fortum and every employee of its subsidiaries: there are no changes to our operating activities, and we must all perform our duties as before and ensure a reliable and uninterrupted supply of electricity and heat to consumers," the new CEO said in a company release.

Fortum said Kozhevnikov "has worked in the energy sector for many years" and had been Deputy Chief Engineer - Chief Power Engineer of Bashneft-Dobycha LLC, since November 2019.

Kozhevnikov hails from Ufa and is a member of the internal Russian republic of Bashkortostan's legislature. His positions prior to joining Bashneft included director for grid connections at Lenenergo.

Fortum was led by Alexander Chuvayev since 2009. He also served on the board of the Finnish parent company until September 2022.

The Russian president issued a decree on Tuesday evening to introduce temporary management of Fortum's and Uniper's Russian assets. The decree applies to 83.73% of shares in PJSC Unipro and 98.23% of shares in PJSC Fortum . The Federal Property Agency has been designated the temporary manager.

Fortum's current understanding is that the new decree does not affect the title of ownership of the assets and companies in Russia. However, it remains unclear how this affects Fortum's Russian operations or the ongoing divestment process, the company said.

Fortum Oy, one of the largest foreign investors in Russia's electricity sector, owns 98.23% of PJSC Fortum and about 30% of PJSC TGC-1 , the principal shareholder of which is Gazprom Energoholding. The Finnish company was also one of the largest investors in Russian wind power.

Fortum CEO Markus Rauramo said in April that the company is continuing the process of exiting Russia and sees interest in its assets both in Russia and other countries.