Unipetrol To Fire CEO Of Ceska Rafinerska Unit

Unipetrol, a Czech petrochemical holding company, will seek next week to fire Ivan Ottis as the Chief Executive Officer of its Ceska Rafinerska unit, Mlada Fronta Dnes daily reported, without citing sources.

Ottis, who represents Unipetrol on Rafinerska's board, voted last week with representatives of shareholders Conoco, Royal Dutch/Shell Group and Agip Petroli International to stop supplying Chemopetrol, which is another Unipetrol unit, after the companies failed to agree on prices, the daily said.

Unipetrol will ask shareholders to remove Ottis at a June 13th meeting, the daily said. Chemopetrol yesterday filed a complaint with the Anti Monopoly Office, saying that Rafinerska is charging it too much for raw materials.

The rift between the Unipetrol units may derail a plan to sell the rest of Rafinerska to the Conoco-led venture, and may lead to the collapse of the government's agreement to sell Unipetrol to Agrofert AS, analysts said. Conoco, Shell and Agip have until Thursday to decide on whether to buy the rest of Rafinerska.

Visit to

&to=http://www.unipetrol.cz/' target=_blank>UNIPETROL