By Yulia Bushuyeva
VEDOMOSTI
Mikhail Gutseriyev is to be removed from his position as head of Slavneft in a move to prepare the Russian-Belarussian oil company for privatization, a White House source said last week.
The board of directors is to meet Monday at the request of the Property Ministry to set an extraordinary shareholders meeting, tentatively for May 13, at which Gutseriyev's tenure will be voted on, the source said, adding that owners of more than 2 percent of Slavneft shares can propose candidates for president until mid-April.
First Deputy Property Minister Alexander Braverman said last week that 19.68 percent in Slavneft would be sold in October or November, with the minimum price set at between $300 million and $350 million. Competition for the Slavneft stake should be fierce, as Sibneft, LUKoil, Tyumen Oil Co. (TNK) and Yukos have all expressed interest.
The firing of Gutseriyev may also be connected with Sunday's presidential election in Ingushetia, the source said. Gutseriyev's brother, Khamzat Gutseriyev, was a candidate, while his main opponent, Murat Zyazikov, was put forward by the presidential representative for the Southern Federal District.
"The election campaign was quite scandalous, and the federal authorities are very unhappy about this, so Mikhail Safarbekovich [Gutseriyev] may have suffered for his brother," the official said.
Slavneft's main shareholders are the Property Ministry with 55.27 percent, the State Property Fund with 19.68 percent, the Belarussian government with 10.83 percent and the DKK investment company with 12.98 percent. The DKK stake includes minority shareholders. TNK represents DKK's interests, and a top TNK manager is a member of the Slavneft board of directors.
The minority shareholders also own a blocking stake in Slavneft's chief subsidiaries -- Megionneftegaz, Yaroslavnefteorgsintez and the Mendeleyev oil refinery.
The White House source said only one candidate would be proposed as president.
"The main owner here is the Russian government, and at the end of the day it must decide who will run the company, though we, of course, are conducting preliminary consultations with our Belarussian colleagues," the source said.
A TNK representative said his company did not plan to put up a candidate, while Belarussian officials and Slavneft representatives declined to comment.
Although Gutseriyev has yet to be removed from his post, the Slavneft management team has already been rearranged. Alexander Gnusarev has been named first vice president for commercial affairs. He was previously first deputy manager at Mezhprombank.
A Slavneft official said the appointment was due to changes in the list of positions in the company. "It's just that earlier we didn't have this position, and now we do," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The source did not deny that Gnusarev will manage the same issues as Yury Sukhanov, Slavneft's vice president of commerce. Sukhanov is on vacation and may not return to Slavneft, sources said.
A source close to the Slavneft board of directors said that Mezhprombank has "shown a certain amount of interest in oil shares." However, a Mezhprombank official said it was too early to discuss the bank's participation in the Slavneft privatization.
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