Translated material
Revolt of minority shareholders
EWE lost control of the VNG supervisory board
On the eve of the annual conference of the largest East German gas company VNG, a coup took place on its supervisory board. Dissatisfied with the policy of the largest (owning 47.9% of shares) shareholder - the utility concern EWE, the remaining owners of securities, including the Russian Gazprom, agreed and elected their chairman of the supervisory board. Typically in Germany this post goes to a delegate from the main shareholder. VNG does not comment on the relationship between shareholders, but expects that now the interaction between management and directors will become even more productive.Representatives of Germany's Wintershall (15.79%), France's Gaz de France (5.26%) and Gazprom (5.26%) convinced the trust company of 12 city utilities (controlling 25.79% of VNG shares) to vote for the board member Wintershall by Carsten Heuchert. He replaced the head of EWE, Werner Brickner, in the chair of the supervisory board.
Apparently, the revolt of minority shareholders was provoked by the position of EWE, which opposed the expansion of the gas company's foreign activities. Despite the fact that at the end of 2006, sales outside Germany increased by 10% and made a significant contribution to record gas sales and net profit. Last year, VNG sold 16.4 billion cubic meters of gas worth about 5 billion euros and made a net profit of 155 million euros. Russian gas continues to dominate the company's portfolio. A little more than 7 billion cubic meters were purchased through the trading house WIEH (a parity joint venture between Gazprom and Wintershall). Another 4.5 billion VNG was purchased in Norway from Statoil, Hydro, ExxonMobil Norway, Total Norge and Eni Norge. And the same amount of gas comes from German fields from the German-registered subsidiaries of ExxonMobil and Shell.
The head of VNG, Klaus Ewald Holst, commenting on the gas portfolio yesterday, noted that long-term contracts (for Russian gas last year were extended until 2030, for Norwegian gas - valid until 2022) are a guarantee of the company’s reliable operation and energy security for consumers.
At the same time, Mr. Holst was, as always, very emotional in his assessment of cooperation with Russia. He said that he does not share concerns about the reliability of Russian gas supplies, which have recently been regularly discussed in Europe. “Without Russia, European energy is impossible, and in fact there is no need to do without Russia,” he explained. At the same time, the company, according to him, is considering opportunities to replenish the portfolio from other sources.
Last year, for example, VNG received permission from Norwegian government agencies to work on geological exploration of small deposits in the North Sea and created a corresponding subsidiary, VNG Norge. The new structure sets a target - within ten years to ensure that the portfolio of the parent company receives 1-1.5 billion cubic meters of its own gas annually. As Mr. Holst reported, another source - liquefied natural gas - is also being carefully studied. But today no one in Germany has any contracts for the import of LNG. “In this area there are still more words than concrete deeds,” he noted.