Petropavlovsk appoints Highland Gold's Alexandrov as CEO
Russian miner Petropavlovsk said it had appointed Highland Gold boss Denis Alexandrov as its new chief executive.
Alexandrov, who will also become a director of the company, will join with effect from Tuesday, the London-listed firm said in a statement.
He replaces deputy chief executive Alya Samokhvalova, who was acting CEO until leaving the company last month after nearly two decades.
Samokhvalova is reportedly suing the gold miner for unfair dismissal, claiming she was fired for blowing the whistle on “unlawful behaviour” by directors.
She took on the role of temporary chief executive during Petropavlovsk’s summertime boardroom battle, which resulted in Samokhvalova, as well as former chief Pavel Mavlovskiy and founder Hambro being voted out of the company.
Petropavlovsk last week said it had appointed KPMG to undertake a forensic investigation into certain business deals made in the last three years between the miner, its subsidiaries, and fellow mining company IRC and its subsidiaries in the three years to August 2020.
It is the culmination of a turbulent few months for the miner. In June, seven directors were ousted after Petropavlovsk claimed that rival UGC, its single biggest shareholder, was conspiring with other investors to buy it “by stealth”.
Petropavlovsk appointed four temporary directors in their place, including Hambro and Maslovskiy, and Samokhvalova was named temporary chief executive before their subsequent removal at another meeting.