Dennis Sugaipov to replace Kirill Kravchenko in the position of NIS CEO?

According to the latest issue of Novi Sad's weekly magazine Akter, Kirill Kravchenko, the Director General of the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS), will soon leave that position.

Akter's sources from the management of Gazpromneft say that Kravchenko should soon be replaced by Dennis Sugaipov, the First Deputy Director General and the Director of the Exploration and Production Block. The management of Gazpromneft complains that the current CEO of NIS has been dealing with investments in the oil refinery in Pancevo in a nontransparent manner and that he has, at the initiative of his subordinates, concluded certain unfavorable insurance agreements with local insurance companies (DDOR Novi Sad, Delta Generali and Uniqa Osiguranje).

Officials in Moscow are especially disturbed by the fact that the management has concluded bad insurance agreements while Serbian authorities are deliberately postponing issuance of a work permit to Sogas, Gazprom's insurance company that wants to enter the market of Serbia. Once that company enters Serbia, it is expected to insure the largest Russian investments, including, of course, NIS and its employees.

Representatives of the Serbian side at NIS also complain about Kravchenko's work. As Akter learns from a source in the Government of Serbia, Kravchenko's signature on an unfavorable agreement on the sale of NIS' oil wells in Angola is thought to have caused a significant damage to NIS, worth about USD 35 million.