OREANDA-NEWS. February 29, 2008. The new Board of Directors of JSC Novorossiysk Shipping Company (Novoship) was elected at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting of Novoship on 28 February 2008.

Nine directors were elected to the Board, including five managers of Sovcomflot, which owns 67.13 per cent of the ordinary (voting) shares of Novoship. Those elected were: Sergey Frank, Sergey Popravko, Nikolay Kolesnikov, Vladimir Mednikov, Mikhail Suslin of Sovcomflot; three independent directors – Marlen Manasov, Managing Director of the investment company UBS Securities; Robert Sasson, an investment banker, former Head of EBRD Mission in St. Petersburg; Leonid Loza, former Novoship President; and the President of Novoship, Sergey Terekhin.

Seven members of the new Novoship Board are professionals in the maritime industry. There are four captains of ocean-going ships among the new members, and four managers with experience in running such major shipping companies as Sovcomflot, Novoship, Primorsk Shipping Company (Prisco), Far-Eastern Shipping Company (Fesco) and the Northern Shipping Company (NSC).

At the first meeting of the new Novoship Board of Directors, Sergey Frank, Sovcomflot President & CEO, was elected Chairman of the Board. Speaking after the meeting, Mr Frank emphasised that the new Board of Directors intends to guide the Novoship management in further enhancing its competitiveness, increasing the company’s capitalization and growing a leader in the seaborne transportation markets, a traditional area of specialism for Novoship. “The prime task of the Sovcomflot and Novoship management at this stage is to gain the maximum synergy from the consolidation of Russia’s two largest shipping enterprises for the benefit of their clients, their shareholders, the regional shipping community and of Russia as a maritime country. They also need to bring the Group’s corporate governance system and transparency of corporate procedures in conformity with the highest international standards,” said Mr. Frank.