CNPC Shareholders rebel

    An unprecedented lawsuit has started in Aktobe, as CNPC Shareholders call for the dismissal of its general director and chairman of the board of directors.
    They have accused the management of the company in unfair payment of dividends to f shareholders in Kazakhstan, most of them - are former and current oil workers.
    Shareholders say that last year, the company earned a record amount of KZT 200 billion. But the Chinese management, citing the financial crisis, announced they would pay a dividend of only 100 tenge per share. This is a roughly 100 times smaller amount than in 2007.
    Kazakhstani shareholders said they also intend to recover millions of tenge from the general director of the company. Each year, the company deducts from its dividends an identical sum to its environmental fines, they say.
    The most recent scandal involved the Chinese government paying KZT 30 million in penalties, after company executives were accused of industrial espionage.
    Anuar Abdreimov, a representative for the shareholders sated, “This is not a force majeure event, it is a willful gross violation of the law involving damage to society. We propose taking these monetary damages from the officials’ salaries and removing them from office,” according to KTK TV.