Putin allowed Gazprom not to comply with the requirements for the number of independent directors

Gazprom has been relieved of the obligation to comply with the established requirements for the number of independent directors on the board until July 31, 2028. This follows from the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, published on July 2 on the website of the official Internet portal of legal information.

"To establish that henceforth <...> to a public joint-stock company, <...> the owner of the Unified Gas Supply System does not apply the established <...> requirements for the number of independent directors on the board of directors and the number of independent directors on the committees of the Board of Directors," the resolution says.

It clarifies that the Government of the Russian Federation and the Central Bank have been instructed to take the necessary measures for implementation.

Energy step: Russia may join a major project in Guatemala

Will Russian companies be able to reach an agreement and what risks will future cooperation pose?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on June 22 that Russia had contacts with Serbia on the oil and gas company Oil Industry of Serbia (NIS), but their content was not public. Answering a question from reporters about the sale to the Serbian side of part of the shares of the NIS oil refinery after the elections in Hungary, Peskov said that negotiations were underway.

On June 16, the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL and the Serbian government signed an agreement on the future management of the Serbian Oil Industry of Serbia refinery in the event of the acquisition of NIS from Gazprom Neft. It was noted that the next stage after the signing of the current agreement is the completion of the purchase and sale agreement between MOL Group and Gazprom Neft for the acquisition of 56.15% of NIS shares.

The Reuters news agency reported on June 7 that OFAC extended the deadline for negotiations on the acquisition of Russian NIS shares by the Hungarian oil and gas company MOL until June 16.