UPDATE: Gazprom Neft Appoints Tsibelman As Sibir Energy CEO
June 18 2009 - 4:37AM
Dow Jones News
Russia's OAO Gazprom Neft (SIBN.RS) Thursday appointed Igor
Tsibelman as new chief executive of Sibir Energy PLC (SBE.LN) in a
sign the state-controlled oil major is tightening its grip on the
London-listed company.
Tsibelman, head of international legal affairs at Gazprom Neft,
will replace Sibir Energy's acting CEO Stuard Detmer with immediate
effect, Sibir said in a statement.
Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of gas giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS),
has been buying minority shares in Sibir Energy since April.
Wednesday, the company said it had become the company's biggest
stakeholder, accumulating 33.6% of shares.
Sibir Energy, last summer the biggest company on London's AIM
exchange, has been dogged by corporate governance issues since it
agreed to buy distressed real estate assets from its core owner
Chalva Tchigirinski in October last year.
Trading in Sibir's shares have been suspended since February,
pending investigations into erroneous statements to shareholders
about its dealings with Tchigirinski.
Tsibelman, the new Sibir CEO, has together with Gazprom Neft's
Chief Financial Officer Vadim Yakovlev, also been appointed to
Sibir's board. Apart from joining the board, Yakovlev will also
assume a role as non-executive director at Sibir.
"The appointment of Yakovlev and Tsibelman is an important step
in rebuilding the Sibir board and establishing a high standard of
corporate governance for the company," said now former CEO Stuard
Detmer, who will remain on Sibir's board as a non-executive
director.
Analysts said they believe Gazprom Neft's ultimate goal is to
get full control and eventually consolidate Sibir Energy, but say
much depends on what will happen to the remaining shares.
Tchigirinski and his business partner Igor Kesaev each hold
23.5% stakes in Sibir, while the Moscow City Government holds 18%.
Tchigirinski's shares are currently held as loan collateral by
state lender OAO Sberbank (SBER.RS), while Moscow City has said it
won't sell its shares.
"Once the fate of the remaining shares is decided, we'll know
whether Sibir will remain a publicly traded company or become a
subsidiary of Gazprom Neft," said Artyom Konchin, an analyst at
UniCredit in Moscow. Gazprom Neft has so far spent $900 million on
minority shares, leaving Sibir's free float under 0.5%, Konchin
estimates.
At 0800 GMT, Gazprom Neft's American Depository Receipts had
gained 1.1% and were trading at $16.9 each in London.
Sibir Energy operates the Salym oil fields in Western Siberia on
a 50-50 basis with Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), has a stake in the
Moscow oil refinery in which Gazprom Neft is also a shareholder and
ownership of retail gas stations in the Moscow area.
Company Web site: www.sibirenergy.com
-By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, Dow Jones Newswires; +7 495 937
8445; jacob.pedersen@dowjones.com
(Alexander Kolyandr in London contributed to this article)
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