TMCnet News
POLYUS GOLD GENERAL DIRECTOR TENDERS RESIGNATION(Interfax News Agency Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) MOSCOW. April 28 (Interfax) - Polyus Gold General Director Yevgeny Ivanov has tendered his resignation and is planning to head up a new project at OJSC Polyus Exploration, Russia's No. 1 gold producer said in a press release. Yevgeny Ivanov "tendered his resignation to the board, to become effective from May 28, 2007," the release says. "The motivation behind this decision is to enable him to head up a new project, concentrating on exploration and development of gold deposit licenses held within Polyus Exploration. The board of directors have scheduled a further meeting to consider this and associated matters for May 14, 2007. Further announcements will be made at that time," the release says. Polyus Gold formed Polyus Exploration, a wholly owned subsidiary which will hold licenses for Polyus Gold's planned greenfieldexploration projects, at the beginning of April. Alexei Osenmuk, former vice president for economics and finance at Polyus Gold, will be appointed as general director of Polyus Exploration. Andrey Konyukhov, who recently worked for Barrick Gold in Central Asia, will be appointed as Chief Operating Officer of PolyusExploration. The creation of Polyus Exploration is a part of the program to streamline the Company's exploration business, stipulated in its strategic development plan until 2015. Ivanov may have resigned because of the asset division process involving Interros co-owners Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov, sources told Interfax. One said that Ivanov, who was formerly the president of Rosbank and is considered to be Prokhorov's man, may be replaced as Polyus general director by Pavel Skitovich, the Interros head of mining business projects. Skitovich was a former deputy general director for strategy and corporate issues at Power Machines and the nonferrous and precious metals market expert is considered to be Potanin's man. One source said the Polyus board may not accept Ivanov's resignation. Polyus and Interros have refused to comment. Prokhorov is the Polyus board chairman. The board also includesthree independent members - Lord Patrick Gilford, founding partner of the Policy Partnership Limited, Rodney Berens, founding partner of Berens Capital Management, and Valery Braiko, the Union of Goldminers chairman. The other members of the board are Interros General Director Andrei Klishas, Norilsk Nickel General Director Denis Morozov, Ivanov, ZAO Polyus Board Chairman Valery Rudakov, and Interros Financial Department Deputy Director Yekaterina Salnikova. Polyus was spun out of Norilsk Nickel as an independent company in 2006. Potanin and Prokhorov announced plans to divide assets by the end of 2007. It is expected that Potanin will consolidate the controlling stake in Norilsk Nickel and Prokhorov - Polyus. The Interros press service told Interfax in February that Polyus would go to Prokhorov in the asset division. At the time, Prokhorov said he would leave his post as Norilsk Nickel's general director at the end of 2007 when the asset division was complete. However, in mid-March, Prokhorov told the press he would leave his post at Norilsk Nickel to set up his own management company, into which assets would go after the division. When asked how Polyus shares would be distributed, Prokhorov told the press that the issue had not yet been finally decided. It was initially suggested that Interros as a management company would remain in Potanin's hands and Prokhorov would pull out and set up his own management company to manage his assets. Potanin would buy Norilsk Nickel shares in the restructuring and these would remain under Interros management. Polyus, Rosbank (RTS: ROSB), Prof-Media, Open Investments, Power Machines and other Interros assets are to be equally divided between Prokhorov and Potanin. A source close to the holding company's management, said the divorce was not happening because of a personal conflict between two businessmen, but in the interests of business development. "So far key decisions have been built on compromises, which is not always good for business. Now each will develop the segment they are most interested in more dynamically," he said. Copyright 2007 Interfax News Agency. Source: Financial Times Information Limited. |