Gap between foreign & local board transparency - study

There is a significant gap in the transparency of supervisory boards of foreign-listed (71%) vs. locally-listed (40%) Ukrainian public companies, according to research published Friday by Odgers Berndtson (Russia) and Talent Advisors (Ukraine). The study included 47 Ukrainian companies (29 foreign-listed and 18 locally-listed) based on available information from April 30-March 15, 2012. The disconnect was most pronounced in terms of the number of independent directors (37% in foreign-listed companies vs. 19% in locally-listed) and biographical information on website (91% for foreign-listed companies vs. 28% for locally-listed). The overall transparency index for supervisory boards in Ukraine lagged CIS-peer Kazakhstan (60% vs. 75%). The full report is available for download in Russian language at www.odgersberndtson.ru.

Key supervisory board findings

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                                                    Foreign   Local   Total

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Overall board transparency index      71%     40%     60%

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Non-executive directors on board     63%     81%     69%

Executive directors on board            37%     19%     31%

Independent directors on board        39%      0%     26%

Males on board                                92%     78%     87%

Average age on board                      50 yrs  48 yrs  49 yrs

Short biography on website               91%     28%     67%

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Source: Odgers Berndtson & Talent Advisors