Lundberg announces resignation as CEO of Elektrim

Shares in telecom and energy group Elektrim rose by 7% on the Warsaw Stock Exchange yesterday, on the same day that CEO Barbara Lundberg said she would resign as CEO of the company. Lundberg announced her decision at the start of the general shareholders' meeting, which subsequently voted to replace the company's entire supervisory board. Under Lundberg's management, Elektrim has become one of Poland's leading telecom players, and jointly with Vivendi of France, the majority shareholder in Era GSM, Eastern Europe's biggest mobile phone operator. However, she has recently been a key supporter of Deutsche Telecom's efforts to become the controlling shareholder in Era GSM. To counteract Deutsche Telecom's growing strength in Elektrim, Vivendi moved to gain a controlling influence in the company. It is now believed to hold over 10% of Elektrim shares, and its purchases in recent weeks are thought to have been a factor driving the company's shares upwards. In another development, Elektrim announced yesterday that by the end of June, it would sell its 70.5% stake in Elektrim Kable to Krakowska Fabryka Kabli, for a price of at least $100 million. (Gazeta Wyborcza, pp.18,22, Reuters) M.T.