Freight One replaces chief exec, former CEO might head NLMK - paper

MOSCOW. Nov 30 (Interfax) - Freight One, which NLMK principal owner Vladimir Lisin recently sold to Aurora Invest, has replaced its chief executive officer.

The leading Russian freight rail operator's board of directors has appointed Ruslan Babayev to this position, national daily Kommersant reported on Thursday, citing a notice the company sent to its counterparties. Freight One confirmed that Babayev is now CEO, the paper said.

Former Freight One CEO Sergei Karatayev is being considered as a possible successor to NLMK president Grigory Fedorishin, who has headed the steel group since 2018, the paper said, citing three sources on the transport and steel markets.

NLMK told the paper that the "decision on the candidate for the group's new CEO will be made by shareholders in January." NLMK reported in mid-November that it has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting for January 6 and is set to replace Fedorishin in a planned rotation.

Aurora Invest, which took ownership of Freight One on November 1, is affiliated with brothers Timur and Ruslan Babayev, the owners of Vector Rail, which owns liquefied petroleum gas hauler SG-Trans, the paper's sources said. The price of the deal was not disclosed, but sources said it was 200 billion rubles.