The first installment is here.
A new Board of Directors has been approved, consisting of 11 nominees: Sergei Vladimirovich Aleksashenko — Director of Macroeconomic Research at the National Research University Higher School of Economics; Kirill Gennadyevich Androsov — member of the Board of Directors of Altera Capital Management AG; Alexei Andreyevich Germanovich — Program Director for Social and Public Sector Affairs at the Skolkovo Moscow School of Management; Igor Vladimirovich Kogan — Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Interbank Settlement Group non-profit partnership; Igor Arnoldovich Lozhevsky — Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Bank LLC; Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny — attorney at the Interregional Moscow Bar Association. Gleb Sergeyevich Nikitin — Deputy Head of the State Property Committee; Vitaly Gennadyevich Savelyev — Chief Executive Officer of Aeroflot OJSC; Dmitry Petrovich Saprykin — Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Aeroflot OJSC for Legal and Property Matters. Alexander Vasilyevich Tikhonov — Department Director at the Russian Ministry of Transport; Sergei Viktorovich Chemezov — Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Technologies state corporation; http://aeroflot.com/cms/new/17539 It’s amusing how incredibly fast Aeroflot’s press office works: the moment the news hit the agency wires, a courier delivered me a special diamond Aeroflot Bonus card. What sets it apart from the regular gold or platinum ones is that not only do you earn miles at five times the normal rate, you can also deduct miles from other program members — the ones you don’t like and/or who criticize Aeroflot. Tyoma Lebedev is going to be surprised. I was elected by the votes of minority shareholders: one large one (Alexander Lebedev’s NRB) and smaller ones — investment funds. So thanks to them. I don’t yet know the exact number of votes. What helped a lot was that the biggest proxy advisers (international consultants who give minority shareholders voting recommendations) recognized me as an independent director and recommended supporting me, so many thanks to them as well. ISS:
Glass Lewis:
Once again, here are answers to the frequently asked questions:
- So do you work at Aeroflot now?
No, I do not work at Aeroflot.
A member of the Board of Directors is different from a member of the Management Board.
I do not work for Aeroflot, I do not receive a salary there, and I do not have an office there.
Anyone curious can take a look at the charter.
The Board of Directors (Supervisory Board) is the body responsible for the general oversight of a joint-stock company. Roughly speaking, it meets once a month and discusses the company’s strategic issues.
- What are you going to do there?
The same thing I always do: Pinky, try to take over the world protect the rights of minority shareholders and the interests of the company.
My views on corporate governance are quite clear, straightforward, and laid out in this programmatic text.
- Will you be paid for this, and how much?
Most likely, yes. It’s not a salary, but compensation. It may or may not be paid; that decision will be made at the next annual meeting. The decision is not personal (“let’s pay extra to Navalny because he’s adorable”), but applies equally to all directors.
This year, it seems they paid 18 million rubles total to the entire Board of Directors.
- Will they put extra ketchup in your in-flight lunch box?
I hope so, otherwise what’s the point of being a Director?
Once again, many thanks to everyone who helped: wrote letters, filled out a mi(ll)ion forms, organized conference calls with investors and proxy firms, conducted behind-the-scenes negotiations full of intrigue and intimidation, and so on.
Fly with you-know-who.
Update:
For those who get confused about the vote-counting procedure at annual general meetings of joint-stock companies, here’s an explanation from Slon.