Petrol not to Get Single-Tier Management for Now

Date: 05/15/2008
Category: Latest news

Ljubljana, 15 May (STA) - The shareholders of oil retailer Petrol failed to take a vote on a transition to a single-tier management at Thursday's meeting after the supervisory board withdrew the proposal from the agenda.

Chief supervisor Viktor Baraga suggested the motion would be put to a vote at one of the following general meetings. He told reporters in Ljubljana that the supervisory board decided unanimously on Wednesday to take the item off today's agenda because the proposal would not get sufficient support among shareholders. He added that no shareholder had requested the item to be withdrawn, but that the supervisors decided to do so after consulting the company's major owners. Baraga said that he personally favoured a single-tier management because it enabled swift decision-making and efficiency. He was quick to add though that there was nothing wrong with the two-tier system, but urged greater responsiveness. The supervisors therefore called on the management to put forward proposals in a bid to speed up decision-making in the company. The supervisors will review the proposals at their next session, expectedly in two weeks' time. Baraga noted that the exiting managerial system was too rigid to allow for timely responses to challenges, which was why it should be improved. The management must now get the supervisors' approval for most projects because they exceed the values it may decide about. The supervisors must then meet two to three times a week to endorse these projects. Petrol CEO Marko Kryzanowski said the decision to withdraw the proposal for a single-tier management would not affect the company's plans. He mentioned expansion to the broader SE European region, but would not give any details at this point. Kryzanowski also said that Petrol wished to have active management powers in conglomerate Istrabenz, or else it would consider selling its 32% plus stake in the company. The annual general meeting endorsed all the proposals put forward by the management and the supervisors, including the one the allocation of last year's distributable profit of EUR 47.44m. The shareholders earmarked EUR 12.31m or EUR 5.90 gross per share for dividends, EUR 22.91m for reserves and transferred EUR 12.22m to following years.