Shareholders in FTSE 250 gold miner Petropavlovsk (POG) have one week left to vote on who should run the company, ahead of an emergency general meeting in August.
The Russian firm is in the midst of another boardroom crisis, after fellow miner and major shareholder UGC, and other shareholders, voted former chief executive Pavel Maslovskiy and incoming chairman Fiona Paulus off the board in a surprise move at the June AGM.
Petropavlovsk now has just four board directors, one of whom is a UGC-appointed nominee.
‘STEALTH’ TAKEOVER?
This led 20% shareholder Prosperity Capital Management to requisition a general meeting, having accused UGC of trying to take over Petropavlovsk by stealth and without paying a premium, something which UGC denies.
In a boost for Prosperity Capital, influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholders Services (ISS) has advised Petropavlovsk shareholders to back a resolution, put forward by Prosperity, for Maslovskiy and five directors to be reappointed to the board.
The meeting will take place on 10 August and the voting deadline is on 7 August. However, those who have their shares held by a custodian may need to vote as early as Tuesday 4 August.
AUDITOR CONUNDRUM
It comes as the company has warned of a delay in releasing its half-year results because of problems in appointing an auditor.
PwC rejected the job, stating they will await the results of the aforementioned general meeting before making a decision, having been asked to become auditor earlier this year after Deloitte chose not to seek reappointment as the company’s auditors.
