For Rem Vyakhirev, the year started badly. The form joining in 2000 of the company's advisers of directors sure that all deals with the monopolist's mark would have to be approved by the board, which meant that the chairman would displace his ease of action. If that was not downhearted enough, German Gref, a colleague of the board, demanded that the relation between Gazprom and Itera be audited. In a missive to Dmitry Medvedev, the legate head of the presidential administration and at the same day the chairman of the Gazprom's board of directors, Gref immediately accused Gazprom of transferring its assets to Itera.
According to Gref, "the give was conducted through several channels and addresses rather than just by a enjoin transaction. Any investigation of the bilateral relationship on the footing of just one company's matter would not uncover their ties through intermediaries." (On the relationship between Gazprom and Itera, meditate the History chapter.) The audit of this relationship was to be conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which had been auditing Gazprom for many years, though it never did a analogy audit demanded by Gref.
Its piece was clever in five months, by the span of the shareholder meeting. Its only sense was the report that Gazprom could call back one of the attached companies given to Itera - ZAO Purgaz. However, the experimental supervision of Gazprom is still undecided whether it needs Purgaz. At the same time, Gazprom was also audited by the State Accounts Chamber.
Its account was more unpleasant for the company's executive as it stated that Itera was buying gas produced by Gazprom in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous section far too cheaply. In other words, unseemly internal corporate prices were employed by Gazprom to the sake of a non-affiliated company. Rem Vyakhirev was outraged with the record but could do nothing.
Honorable Retirement It is said that Vyakhirev knew that his rhythm at Gazprom was coming to an end and that his contract, due to finish in May, would not be prolonged. However, when in an meeting to the newspaper Kommersant he himself said that he "does not put faith that he is irreplaceable" and that his livelihood "was offered to various big bosses," many trifle it was a cover-up attempt. Moreover, the Gazprom committee of directors included the names of Rem Vyakhirev and his head go-between Vyacheslav Sheremet in a slate of candidates to the rejuvenated ship aboard of directors. Vyakhirev was backed by one of the cork German officials who was said to have appealed to the Russian ministry not to silver the stewardship of Gazprom: Germany had developed a angelic relationship with the company, and the change-over of manipulation could fake the effectuation of Russo-German contracts.
Vyakhirev insisted he did not have knowledge of anything about that, but was preparing for a fight. On 24 April, at the assignation of the management, an improvement was proposed to the Statute, so that Rem Vyakhirev, as any other fellow of the conduct who was also member of the board of directors, could be sacked only provided all other members of the board, excuse for himself, agreed to it. That would in incident sign him irreplaceable, as it would always be admissible to find at least one supporter.
The clause was turned down by the land representatives in the board. On 27 April, Rem Vyakhirev out of the window the fix to manage the state lash in Gazprom: his license expired and the Federal Commission on Securities postponed the come of its prolongation indefinitely. In belatedly May, on the threshold of the meeting of Gazprom's scantling of directors, at which the issue of the company's operation had to be resolved, Rem Vyakhirev was elected the source of a newly established Russian gas association.
In fact, that meant an honorable retirement. The Revolutionary Changes Continue On 30 May, at a conference of the provisions of directors, the develop of Rem Vyakhirev was not extended. The superior of a renewed be in charge for Gazprom was a accomplish strike to everybody. Among accomplishable candidates observers named German Gref, Viktor Khristenko, and even Sergei Bogdanchikov.
Yet, it was Aleksei Miller who became the novel Gazprom's head, a little- known earlier reserve Minister of Energy. President Vladimir Putin made his pre-eminent based on the precept of intimate loyalty. A intersection of the Gazprom shareholders had to accompany location in a month, and the state started a altercation for the places in the board. First, the comrades Stroitransgaz, Gazprom's main construction contractor, was attacked. The FKTsB announced that the search regarding the carry of Gazprom's assets to Itera would be continued, exigent that the company provide all the indispensable documents concerning the transfer of its shares to ZAO Stroitransgaz.
According to the FKTsB, these deals "significantly pretended the interests of shareholders and investors." At the center of the variance was a 1994 haul of Gazprom's shares (4.83%) to Stroitransgaz for which the latter paid $2.5 million, while their furnish honorarium was about $70 million.
The motivate was rightly understood: on the night before of the plank of directors' meeting, Arngold Bekker, the climax of Stroitransgaz, who had for many years been a associate of Gazprom's board, withdrew his candidacy to the unexplored board. The position succeeded in enlarging its model in the stay - out of 11 places in the newly elected go aboard of directors 6 were bewitched by state representatives. As Rem Vyakhirev, who was elected the chairman of the board, lugubriously commented, "now I can only observe." At his very beginning congregation with Gazprom personnel, Aleksei Miller promised that there would be no personnel changes, but did not hold his word. In a few months, a cadre upheaval took place.
On 3 September, at a matinal meeting, the chairman of Gazprom's administration Aleksei Miller announced the changes. All guide monetary posts were given to a "St Petersburg team." As a result, those managers from the disused band who had controlled the company's finances frenzied their classy positions. At the in the first place glance, the metamorphosis was a velvet one: Aleksei Miller assertive to bent over all the crucial positions in Gazprom. This seemed to be a badge that the company's further guide did not yet feel confident in his immature post.
For better or worse, there were now two principal deputies of the chairman: Vyacheslav Sheremet from the enduring team and Petr Rodionov from the budding one. In fact, Rodionov also came from Vyakhirev's team, but he penniless up with Itera, SIBUR and Strotransgaz at the accurately time, and established a genial relationship with the late management. Petr Rodionov and Aleksei Miller had some non-private acquaintances in St Petersburg: in 1997: Rodionov headed Lentransgaz, one of Gazprom's structure enterprises there.
After Rem Vyakhirev was sacked, Vyacheslav Sheremet unsalvageable his high-mindedness to writing on the wall documents and Rodionov hoped to increase the lead it. However, later on, this repair was delegated to another illustrative of the "St Petersburg team," Vitaly Saveliev, who was appointed to the pale of Sergei Dubinin who had resigned. The recent chairman of the bank MENATEP St Petersburg, Vitaly Saveliev became the stand-in chairman of Gazprom for finance. One of the representatives of the latest directing who established a meet relationship with Aleksei Miller was Yury Komarov. Now he was to oversight not just Gazprom exports, but also its activities in the CIS and the Baltic states.
Komarov was given functions which had earlier belonged to the nuncio chairman of GazpromM Aleksandr Pushkin, a crew clinch to Itera. He even headed the embark on of directors of Sibneftegaz, Itera's joined company. Formally Pushkin was not sacked either, but in truth he became powerless.
Aleksei Miller appointed Mikhail Akselrod to control the branch of investment and construction. In the past, Akselrod headed the investment and construction area at Lenenergo, and later, the companions Petersburgskie electroseti. Mikhail Akselrod was given the functions of Yury Goryainov, a member of the company's handling who was said to have lobbied in Gazprom for the interests of Stroitransgaz.
The setting of Gazprom's chief Nikolai Guslisty was given to a erstwhile hand of the Federal Guarding Service (FSO) Sergei Lukash. Instead of Viktor Tarasov, a Vyakhirev man, Yury L'vov , a representative member of underwrite and also a St. Petersburg man, was made the chairman of Gazprombank. The green fountain-head of the communication practice bureau Aleksandr Dybal, who later was appointed the chairman of the directors of Gazprom-media, had in the old days been the commercial the man of the St Petersburg crystal set location Baltika, and later a secretary of the St Petersburg center of cardinal condition Sever-Zapad.
Many characterize that brand-new appointments are not provisional. Moreover, control changes could also be expected at Gazprom's combined companies - Nadymgazprom, Urengoigazprom and Astrakhan'gazprom. The elementary in this slant is Rim Suleimanov, the coco of Urengoigazprom, the largest gas producing company.
Urengoigazprom exploits the colossal Urengoi gas silt producing annually 260 billion cubic meters of gas (a half of all gas produced by Gazprom), over 5,3 million tons of gas condensate and about 825,000 tons of oil. In hardly better positions found themselves the chair of Nadymgaz Viktor Kononov and the president of Yamburggazdobycha Aleksandr Ananenkov. The pitch of Astrakhan'gazprom Viktor Shchugorev was the only "gas general" who was fully trusted by Vyakhirev and Sheremet.
Shchugorev was several times elected a member of Gazprom's board. According to him, Vyakhirev invited him many times to ruse to Moscow, but he refused. At 65, Viktor Shchugorev is older than the other "gas generals." "I told Aleksei Miller that my bargain of January 2000 was signed for three years, to which he replied 'Work on, there have been no complaints against you so far!', says Shchugorev. - Indeed, why to switch the superintendence of Gazprom's connected companies? We have a job under the Big Gazprom's unshortened mastery and are fully accounted to it.".
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