Rusneftegaz can today confirm that Vitaliy Kalyuzhniy has departed his role as Chief Operations Officer by mutual agreement, with his understudy Ivan Skorokhodov assuming the role on an interim basis whilst a permanent replacement is found. He will also surrender his position on our board of directors with immediate effect, with the seat remaining vacant until our next annual general meeting next year. In response to these major developments, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer issued the following statement:
“I am delighted to welcome Ivan to the management board; I have been continually impressed with the work that he has done since he joined Rusneftegaz just over three years ago. The rest of the board and I wish him the best of luck in his new role. There is no doubt in my mind that he will continue to deliver to the same high standards that he has achieved so far in his career with us, and I hope this continues long into the future.”
We would also like to place on record our thanks to Kalyuzhniy for his work since his appointment in 2015 and wish him well for the future. Our executive leadership will commence the process of diligently searching for his successor immediately, and is optimistic about recruiting a candidate before the end of this calendar year. We will be making no further statements on this matter and will not be accepting any queries pertaining to these events at this time, although we will issue prompt updates in due course. We necessitate your cooperation and understanding at this time.