OREANDA-NEWS. Standard & Poor's international agency raised its corporate governance score (CGS) on EuroChem Mineral and Chemical Co. OJSC (EuroChem) to "CGS-6+" on the international scale and "CGS-6.5" on the Russia national scale, according to Standard & Poor's Corporate Governance Rating Services.

In April 2006 EuroChem was assigned "CGS-5+" on the international scale and "CGS-5.9" on the Russia national scale, to enable the Company to gain leadership among industrial companies of Russia. The Company also became the first and remains the only chemical company of Russia which has obtained Standard & Poor's corporate governance score.

A corporate governance score reflects, in an unbiased manner, the level of a company's corporate governance system conformance to international standards. Such a substantial CGS upgrade is a result of optimization of division of powers between the Board and executive bodies of EuroChem, improvements in the Company's transparency, successful development of the corporate governance system and tools, and successful establishment of the business conduct value system.

Four individual components have contributed to the overall company score: ownership structure and external influences; shareholder rights and stakeholder relations; financial transparency, disclosure, and audit; and board structure and effectiveness.

The CGS upgrade "reflects the growing experience of independent governance mechanisms at the company, including the maturing board process and internal audit procedures, the disclosure of beneficial ownership structure, as well as other improvements in transparency. The shareholder, the board, and management of the company are committed to developing governance mechanisms in line with the standards of leading well-governed public companies," according to Standard & Poor’s Executive Summary.