Corporate Governance: Harmonization of Russian and EU Standards

Vladimir Potanin, Chairman of the National Council on Corporate Governance (NCCG), President of Interros Company to take part in «Corporate Governance: Harmonization of Russian and EU Standards» International Roundtable (London, March 22, 2006).

The Forum was initiated by the RF State Duma and NCCG. The Roundtable is organized by the Internal Market and Services Directorate General of the European Commission, the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce and European Corporate Governance Institute.

The Roundtable is a major part of the «Corporate Governance in Russia» program, which was launched by Russia and the EC in September 2004.

Corporate governance issues and European cooperation, harmonization of Russian and EU Corporate Laws were the major topics, discussed at the Forum.

The co-chairs of the Roundtable were Vladimir Potanin, Chairman, NCCG and Interros Company President; Rt. Hon Tim Eggar, RBCC President, former UK Minister of Energy and Sergey Vasiliev, Chairman, RF Committee On Financial Markets.

Among the attendees were: Alexander Zhukov, RF Deputy Prime Minister; Oleg Vyugin, head of the RF Federal Financial Markets Service; Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs; Victor Pleskachevsky, Chairman of the State Duma Property Committee; Anatoly Aksakov, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Credit Organizations and Financial Markets; Rt. Hon Alan Johnson MP, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, UK; Mr. Jean Lemierre, President, EBRD; Mr. Paul Skinner, Chairman, Rio Tinto; Peter Hambro, Executive Chairman, Peter Hambro Mining; Stephen Jennings, CEO, Rennaissance Capital; Mats Issaksson, Head of Corporate Affairs Division, OECD; Max Gutbrod, Partner, Baker&McKenzie; Piotr Madziar, Head of Accounting Unit, European Commission; Christian Strenger, Chairman, International Corporate Governance Network, Member of the Board of Directors, DWS Investment GmbH; Simon Commander, Director, Centre for New and Emerging Markets, London Business School; Wulf Doeser, Senior Consultant, Baker&McKenzie; Paul Davies, European Corporate Governance Institute.

A special research on harmonization of Russian and EU corporate laws were drafted by the Russian side for this event. The results of this research were published in «Corporate Reform and Harmonization of Russian and EU Corporate Laws» monograph. The book was published under the patronage of NCCG, its authors are leading Russian and European experts in the corporate governance field, such as prof. Alexander Astapovich, Oxana Bestoujeva, Wulf Doeser, Max Gutbor, Ksenia Levushkina, Vitaly Pyltsov, Dmitry Weinstein.

The report focuses on the main areas for reforming corporate law in Russia and harmonizing it with EU legislation. Development of the market economy calls for improvements to law on corporate relations and corporate governance. The authors analyze the possibilities for Russia to draw on European corporate reform experience. They place special emphasis on the need for reform to promote a better business environment in Russia and to expand its international cooperation.

A package approach to the corporate legislation issue was first mentioned at the «Corporate Governance and Economic Growth in Russia» international conference, organized by NCCG with the participation of the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In this content, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade drafted a «Concept of the Corporate Legislation Development until 2008», which is soon to be examined by the RF Government.

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National Council on Corporate Governance The National Council on Corporate Governance is a non-profit partnership of top managers of the largest Russian issuer companies, investment companies, federal executive authorities and relevant committees of the State Duma and Federation Council.

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