Mayor Compromises With Kievenergo Shareholders.

Anatoly Chuba, a Kyiv city councilor from the bloc of mayor Leonid Chernovetsky, was appointed yesterday to the board of Kievenergoholding, which is 61% owned by the Kyiv city council and owns 12.7% of Kievenergo (KIEN: BUY). Yuri Bondar, a councilor tied to the business group that owns 39% of Kievenergo, was re-appointed chairman, while councilors from the Tymoshenko bloc, the Socialists and Our Ukraine took seats and Volodymyr Denega, a powerful Regions party councilor, was kicked out. The shake-up came after Chernovetsky threatened to dissolve Kievenergoholding and effectively reprivatize the 39% stake. Kievenergoholding, which also owns controlling stakes in Kiev’s gas and water utilities, also voted to reorganize itself into an open joint stock company. Tom Warner: The turnaround at Kievenergoholding suggests the mayor is now firmly allied with the business group that effectively controls more than 40% of KIEN, led by councilor Andry Ivanov and MP Vasyl Khmelnytsky. Besides the 39% stake in Kievenergoholding, they also directly own 28% of KIEN’s shares. A similar conflict at Khreshchatyk Bank, jointly owned by the city and Khmelnitsky’s group, also cooled down as Chuba joined the board. However, the mayor now appears to be in conflict with the Regions party.