Controversial board meeting ousts Kobelev as General Director, but for how long is debatable (323 words)

Published: 10/30/2001

AO Perm Motors Holdings (PM) has replaced its incumbent General Director, Victor Kobelev, with his deputy, Dmitry Kharkin, although according to local sources, Kharkin, who is responsible for what are described as “security issues”, is seen as a caretaker pending the appointment of a more suitable candidate. The decision by the company's board to replace Kobelev has not been accepted by the Perm Region and both Perm board members, Vice Governors Anatoly Tyomkin and Victor Karpov, along with Kobelev, were reported not to be present at the meeting. The item to replace the General Director was added to the agenda at the last minute, apparently by “Moscow shareholders”: presumably financial holding company, Interros, reportedly with no notification to the Perm regional administration. Anatoly Tyomkin says that the Moscow shareholders removed Kobelev because he is campaigning to become a deputy in the regional Duma and if, he wins, they claim he will be unable to effectively execute his duties at the aero engine plant. Tyomkin, however, considers the Board's decision to fire Kobelev “illegal in form and wrong in essence”. Other reports indicate that the region's objections to the change may be mollified by offering Kobelev the role of Chairman of PMZ, believed to be the topic of discussion between PM's Chairman Vladimir Shmatovich, Anatoly Tyomkin and the Perm governor, Yury Truntnev. Shmatovich, however, who is Chairman of both PM and PMZ, has been reported as saying that he is ready to stand aside in favour of Kobelev at PMZ and such an offer has been made for consideration by Kobelev. Elsewhere within Perm, the board of PMZ extended the contract of Yury Reshetnikov, its General Director, for a further year on top of his three year contract that happened to coincide with the manager's 65th birthday. The issue of chairman was not on the agenda.

Article ID: 2869