MegaFon denies reports on possible resignation of CEO Soldatenkov

MOSCOW, Sep 5 (PRIME) -- Major Russian mobile operator MegaFon has denied media reports on a possible resignation of General Director Sergei Soldatenkov, the company said in a statement late on Monday.

Vedomosti said citing several sources that Soldatenkov would likely quit by December. The sources said Soldatenkov did not plan to come back to the company for a long time, when he took the helm again in 2016. He headed the company in 2003–2012 and kept membership on the board of directors after the leave.

The company said: “MegaFon’s press service denies the information on a possible resignation of the company’s general director that appeared today in the Vedomosti newspaper. The facts it presented are groundless and are not true.”

Vedomosti reported citing a person close to the operator’s shareholders said that Soldatenkov was invited to improve the situation with financial results after the resignation of Ivan Tavrin, who ran the company in 2012–2016, but it became evident that Soldatenkov failed to cope with the task, and the company needs someone with a new view on the company and the industry.

MegaFon said that “the raised question that Sergei Soldatenkov may leave the company due to discontent of shareholders with his work looks weird in the wake of recent events. On August 30, MegaFon released its financial results for the second quarter of 2017, which were positively viewed by the investment community and the company’s shareholders. The company’s shares rose 6.6% upon the disclosure of the results, according to the closure of the last trading day in London.”

Chairman of MegaFon’s board of directors Vladimir Streshinsky said that “the shareholders are satisfied with the way the company evolves and support its management and Sergei Soldatenkov personally.”

“The assumption that Mr. Soldatenkov may leave MegaFon due to weak financial results for the quarter are absurd, because the company’s development strategy until 2020 was fully endorsed by its shareholders and unveiled in late May. Presently, it is being successfully implemented under the control of Soldatenkov himself,” MegaFon said.

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