My friend in Kremlin Tightens Grip on Gazprom

[Markku Saarelainen]

http://www.funet.fi/pub/culture/russian/voices/realaudio/international.ra

 Kremlin Tightens Grip on Gazprom
       By Anna Raff 
       Staff Writer 
       The government grabbed control of Gazprom at a annual shareholders meeting Friday
       by securing a majority on the board of directors, a move that sets the stage for rapid
       and long-awaited reforms at the unwieldy gas giant.
       Government officials won six out of the 11 seats on Gazprom's board. Three seats went
       to company management, while Burkhard Bergmann, vice president of Germany's
       Ruhrgas, kept his seat, as did Boris Fyodorov, the outspoken representative of
       minority shareholders.
       The meeting also voted to effectively hand the government the power to fire the
       Gazprom chief executive, amending company bylaws to require only a simple board
       majority to force the CEO's departure. A unanimous board vote was previously
       required.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/07/02/001.html


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