Due to disputes among its shareholders, Česká rafinéřská still lacks an operational plan for this year. Majority shareholder Unipetrol (with a 51.23 percent stake) failed to reach agreement with minority shareholders Eni (32.44 percent) and Royal Dutch Shell (15.33 percent) on the naming of a new general director and chairman of the board of directors at the Czech oil refinery’s Jan. 25 extraordinary general meeting.
The current Česká rafinéřská CEO, Ivan Souček, is to remain in his post for the time being. According to information obtained by Czech Position, apart from Souček, board member Miroslav Kornalík was also supposed to have left.
The quarrelling shareholders are due to give it another go at the general meeting scheduled for March. Why Unipetrol wants to get rid of Souček and Kornalík — and whom it intends to push through in their place — was something the company’s press department did not wish to discuss. ‘Let us not run ahead of the decision the shareholders will make.’
“Who occupies which position in the board of the directors of Česká rafinéřská resides within the authority of that company’s general meeting and is the result of an agreement reached by its shareholders at that general meeting. Let us not run ahead of the decision the shareholders will make,” Unipetrol communications specialist Bořek Konečný said.
Souček declined to comment on the course of the January general meeting or on the unexpected extension of his engagement with Česká rafinéřská. Two weeks ago, however, he confirmed for Czech Position that he intended to leave the company and begin lecturing at the Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague (VŠCHT).
Changes in Česká rafiněřská’s top management are not the only bone of contention between majority and minority shareholders. According to information obtained by Czech Position, Unipetrol (which is listed on the Prague Stock Exchange and majority controlled by Polish petrochemical company PKN Orlen) also failed to come to an agreement with Eni and Shell regarding the 2011 operational plan.
“The business plan was not discussed because the shareholders approved a change in the order of business, and therefore the general meeting did not discuss the planned items on the agenda,” Konečný said. “The board of directors of Česká rafinéřská will in accordance with the company's articles of association call another general meeting.”
Česká rafinérská is the largest crude oil processing company and largest producer of oil products in the Czech Republic. It operates refineries in Litvínov and Kralupy nad Vltavou.
