OREANDA-NEWS. May 07, 2010. JSC “Polymetal” (LSE, MICEX, RTS: PMTL) (“Polymetal” or the “Company”) announces that Mr. John O’Reilly, a member of the Company’s Board of Directors and Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee, has submitted a resignation letter to Polymetal’s Chairman of the Board, reported the press-centre of Polymetal.   

The Company believes that the resignation letter resulted from the decision of the Melbourne Supreme Court dated April 16, 2010 and appreciates the transparency Mr. O’Reilly displayed towards the Company while the court case was pending and his wish to shield the Company from possible reputational damage, including his preparedness to resign from the Board during the court process.

According to the Federal Law “On the Joint-Stock Companies”, the General Shareholders Meeting of a Russian joint stock company may only decide to terminate the powers of all members of the Board of Directors simultaneously. As a result, Mr. O’Reilly’s resignation may not be considered as a separate matter. The Company expects, however, that Mr. O’Reilly will not be re-nominated to the Board of Directors of Polymetal and his candidacy will not be considered at the forthcoming Annual General Shareholders Meeting which is planned to be held in June 2010.

Polymetal would like to express its sincere gratitude to Mr. O’Reilly for his hard and productive work as an independent member of the Company’s Board of Directors and Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.