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Last Updated: Jul 12, 2008 - 9:20:17 AM |
President Dmitry Medvedev suggested once that it would be nice to
withdraw state officials from major state-owned companies, and the
government made it plain that it did not have to be told twice. The
reduction in personnel is under way, or about to be under way. Russian
Railroad is the first business venture whose board is to be rid of
state officials soon. On the other hand, candidates for the vacancies
are not as "independent" as one might think so that all key decisions
will be made by the state all the same.
Medvedev said last week that there were too many officials on the
boards of state-owned companies and suggested their reduction in
personnel. Russian Railroad is the first company to end up with an
"independent" board before August. Insiders say that the government
will compile the list of candidates for the soon to be vacancies later
this week. It is only known at this point that Deputy Premier Alexander
Zhukov will probably retain his seat n the board. In fact, some
observers reckon that Zhukov may become the only representative of the
state in Russian Railroads. Sources say meanwhile that the new Russian
Railroad board will include nine directors instead of twelve and that
eight of them will be "independent".
New board may include Dmitry Komissarov once of Transmashholding,
Alexander Ryazanov formerly of Gazprom Oil, Troika Dialogue Director
Andrei Sharonov, Centerinvest Group President Vladimir Gusakov, and
Alexander Shokhin of the Russian Business and Entrepreneurship Union.
As a matter of fact, Vladimir Prokofiev is another candidate.
(Prokofiev is general director of BaltTransServis, one of the leaders
in the market owned by N- Trans.) Vladimir Yakunin and Andrei Kostin
(Vneshtorgbank) may retain their seats on the board.
This rearrangement of the board of the largest transport company in
Russia is certainly cardinal. Representatives of the state on the board
these days include Zhukov, Yakunin, Kostin, Senior Deputy Premier Igor
Shuvalov, Minister of Transportation Igor Levitin and his Deputy
Minister Alexander Misharin, Valery Nazarov formerly of the State
Property Committee, Andrei Dementiev, Andrei Belov, Vladimir Ampilogov,
Anna Popova, and Gennadi Fadeyev. Yevgeny Korovin of Standard &
Poor's Infrastructure Ratings believes that presence of independent
directors on the board of Russian Railroads may have a positive effect
on corporate management and strategy and, consequently, on the
company's financial parameters and kudos.
Renaissance Capital analyst Eduard Faritov claims in the meantime that
what is contemplated is one of the elements of preparations for the
forthcoming privatization. "In any event, these people may be called
independent but it is not they who will be making strategic decisions,"
Korovin said. "No use therefore waiting for any radical changes. The
state will still make all key decisions, just as it has been doing so
far."
Source:Ocnus.net 2008
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