The Board of Directors of JSC Shipbuilding Plant "Severnaya Verf” based in St. Petersburg has claimed as illegal an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) of stockholders held by only one shareholder - JSC Western Center of Shipbuilding (owns a 20.96% stake in Severnaya Verf Shipyard. The Center is part of United Shipbuilding Corporation). The Board said in a statement the replacement by the EGM of the former CEO of SV is absolutely illegitimate.
The shipyard is managed by the Board of Directors, elected in 2011 at the Annual General Meeting of shareholders and the powers of Severnaya Verf CEO Andrei Fomichev are still effective, as evidenced by a number of official documents signed by Fomichev, the SV press office said. So far, there have been no official documents confirming the legality of changing the top executive of the shipbuilding firm.
The shipyard has submitted a notification to the regional Federal Tax Service with a request not to accept any decision on the state registration of any new CEO of OJSC Severanaya Verf.
St. Petersburg-based Severnaya Verf (Northern Shipyard) is a leading shipbuilding company of the Russian defense industry. The firm has been part of Moscow-based United Industrial Corporation since 2004. The shipyard specializes in building cruisers, destroyers, minesweepers, patrol vessels and antisubmarine, research and passenger vessels, timber cargo carriers, trawlers, container ships and Ro-Ro vessels for the Russian Defense Ministry and foreign customers.
United Shipbuilding Corporation was founded in 2007 as a 100-percent state-owned group of companies consolidating about 70% of domestic shipbuilding industry. UCS currently incorporates three regional shipbuilding centers, nine engineering and design offices and 39 dockyards. The Corp’s largest shipbuilding assets include Kaliningrad-based JSC Yantar Shipyard, JSC Admiralty Shipyards (St. Petersburg), JSC PA Sevmash (Severodvinsk), JSC DVZ Zvezda (Vladivostok). Besides, UCS holds a 50% stake in Arctech Helsinki Shipyard, a joint venture with STX Finland Cruise Oy.
The Corporation participates in several major international projects: construction of a new mega shipyard Zvezda-DSME through a JV with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engeneering (South Korea), the construction jointly with Yantai Raffles (Singapore) of Vostok-Raffles Shipyard. The Group focuses on the Russian market, exports its products to 20 countries as well.