Energy, Markets and Companies, Transport

Vladimir Egger is elected into the position of Chairman of the Supervisory Council for JSC Ventspils nafta, and Paul Thomas and Oļegs Stepanovs are elected as his deputies.

Vladimir Egger has almost 30 years of professional experience in the field of commodities trading. Currently he holds the position of Chief Representative in the Vitol Group’s company VNT SA in Moscow. Prior to working for Vitol, V.Egger was Managing Director of the company Lukoil Asia Pacific based in Singapore and Beijing (China). The new Chairman of the Supervisory Council for JSC Ventspils nafta has also worked for established companies such as Marc Rich, Metallgesellschaft, and Louis Dreyfus in various countries and continents. V.Egger holds a BA in Economics and an MBA.

Paul Thomas, who is elected as Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Council for JSC Ventspils nafta, is head of worldwide shipping at Vitol Group, with overall control of all commercial, operational and legal departments in this field at Vitol. The other Deputy Chairman of Supervisory Council, Oļegs Stepanovs, holds leading positions in administrative structures of various Latvian transit companies: Supervisory Councils for JSC SS&F Group, JSC Ventspils tirdzniecības osta, JSC Baltic Coal Terminal and JSC Ventspils Grain Terminal.

The Supervisory Council for JSC Ventspils nafta has also appointed Management Board member Simon Boddy as Chairman of the company’s Management Board. The composition of the Management Board remains unchanged – the Financial Director Normunds Staņēvičs and Legal Director Ilva Purēna retain their existing roles.

S.Boddy has worked in the oil business for more than 30 years. After gaining a degree in Mathematics from Oxford University, he worked for the energy company Shell and then for BP. In 1989 he joined the Vitol Group and has held senior positions in trading, refinery supply and economics, and as chief representative in Vitol’s Moscow office. He is a member of the board of Vitol Tank Terminals International and is also a qualified UK barrister.

Commenting on his appointment, S.Boddy said: “I am pleased to have been elected as Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Ventspils nafta. Although trading conditions remain challenging in our businesses, I am confident that the changes that have been made will help us deliver further improvements in our performance, for the benefit of all our shareholders.”

Representatives nominated by the company’s major shareholders – international company Vitol Group’s subsidiary Euromin Holdings (Cyprus) Limited and JSC Latvijas Naftas Tranzīts – are elected to the Supervisory Council. The following are elected to the Supervisory Council for JSC Ventspils nafta: V.Egger, P.Thomas, O.Stepanovs, Javed Ahmed, Mikhail Dvorak, Rubil Yilmaz, Mark Ware, Gatis Grāvītis, Mārtiņš Kvēps, Valērijs Godunovs, Aleksejs Ovods.

JSC Ventspils nafta is the central holding company in a transit-oriented Group whose task is to manage the investments in subsidiaries by promoting the Group’s joint values and growth in the value of each individual subsidiary.

The JSC Ventspils nafta Group is working in the following areas: transshipment of crude oil and petroleum products; transport of crude oil and petroleum products by pipelines; shipping.