EVRAZ plc (LON:EVR) has announced that the Nominations Committee has recommended to the Board of Directors of the Company, and the Board has agreed that Ms. Sandra Stash, Mr. Stephen Odell and Mr. James Rutherford be proposed for election as Independent Non-Executive Directors of the Company at the 2021 annual general meeting, which is due to be held on 15 June 2021, with their appointments due to take effect from the conclusion of the AGM, if approved.
Ms. Stash, if appointed, will also become a chair of the Health, Safety and Environmental Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee; Mr. Odell, if appointed, will become a member of the Audit Committee, the Remuneration Committee and the Nominations Committee. Mr. Rutherford, if appointed, will become a member of the Nominations Committee and the Audit Committee.
During Ms. Stash’s distinguished 39-year career, she has served as a senior executive for leading global energy companies. Her most recent executive position was as an Executive Vice President of Safety, Operations and Engineering and External Affairs at Tullow Oil from 2013 to 2020. Prior to that she was Senior Vice President for HSECR, Operations and Engineering Assurance at Talisman Energy from 2008 to 2013; and a Vice President at BP plc from 2000 to 2008 where she had responsibility for Operations – Other Business and Corporate in North America, Health, Safety and Environment at TNK-BP and then Regulatory Affairs, Compliance and Ethics at BP America. During her career with ARCO Ltd from 1981 to 2003 she undertook various roles from Senior Engineer to Vice President.
Ms. Stash’s current appointments include: Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of Sustainability Committee at Lucid Energy Group LLC; Director at First Montana Bank Inc.; Non-Executive Director at Trans Mountain Corp; Non-Executive Director, Chair of Sustainability and Safety Committee at Diversified Energy plc; and Independent Non-Executive Director at Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited.
Ms. Stash graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
Mr. Odell has extensive international automotive and large industrial company experience gathered over a 38-year history. He retired from Ford Motor Company as a Global Executive Vice President in 2018. As an Executive Vice President, he was responsible for Global Sales, Marketing and Service operations for Ford and prior to that, President of Ford of Europe, Middle East and Africa, where he led major restructuring efforts to return the Division to profitability. Other prior experience include CEO of Volvo Cars, based in Gothenburg Sweden, leading the sale of that company to Geely, a Chinese automotive company and Senior Managing Director for Mazda Car Corporation, based in Hiroshima Japan. Mr. Odell has lived in multiple countries around the world and established the FordSollers joint venture in Russia, where he served as joint Chairman for three years.
Mr. Odell is currently Chairman of the Board at Accsys Technologies plc, a UK listed sustainable timber company.
Mr. Odell graduated from the University of Brighton as a Bachelor of Arts in Business Studies.
Mr. Rutherford held senior roles in a 25-year career in investment management and investment banking, specialising in the global mining and metals sector. He has extensive international experience and brings considerable insight from the perspective of the capital markets and a deep understanding of the metals industry.
He previously served as a Non-Executive Director at Anglo American plc (from 2013 to 2020) and as Chairman of Dalradian Resources Inc (from 2015 until its takeover in 2018). From 1997 to 2013, he was Senior Vice President with Capital Group where he had responsibility for investments globally in the metals and mining industry. Previously, from 1993 to 1997, he served as Vice President of Equity Research at the investment bank HSBC James Capel in New York, covering the South American metals and mining industry. He also served as an investment analyst with Credit Lyonnais, covering diversified industrials, and with CRU International, providing analysis and consultancy on the copper industry.
Mr. Rutherford’s current appointments include: Non-Executive Chairman at Centamin plc and Senior Independent Director at Anglo Pacific Group plc. He also serves as Lead independent Director at GT Gold Corp, but will step down from that role upon completion of the acquisition of GT Gold by Newmont Corp, which is expected to close on 17 May 2021.
Mr. Rutherford graduated from Queen’s University Belfast as a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Computer Science and from University of Sussex as Master of Arts in Development Economics. He is also an alumnus of the London Business School.
The Board notes it has previously announced that two of the Company’s longest serving and most experienced Non-Executive Directors, Sir Michael Peat and Karl Gruber, would not seek re-election at the 2021 AGM as they have both served nine years on the Board already. Although the Board is pleased to be recommending three strong candidates to join the Board, it has asked both Sir Michael Peat and Mr. Gruber to remain on the Board for a few months to support a smooth transition process and therefore is putting them both forward for re-election at the forthcoming AGM as required by the articles of association of the Company. The Board considers that both individuals, notwithstanding their length of tenure, remain independent. For the avoidance of doubt, Sir Michael Peat and Mr. Gruber will be relinquishing all other Committee duties currently undertaken, although Sir Michael will remain as Senior Independent Director until he steps down from the Board. Following the AGM, Mr. Alexander Izosimov will become a chair of the Nominations Committee and Ms. Deborah Gudgeon will also become a member of the Nominations Committee.
Ms. Laurie Argo has advised the Board that she will not be seeking re-election at the forthcoming AGM and will therefore cease to be a director at the conclusion of the meeting on the 15 June 2021.
Commenting on the appointment, Mr. Alexander Abramov, Evraz plc Chairman, said:
“I’m delighted to welcome all three nominees to our Board. They will bring additional vision and expertise across EVRAZ’s key geographic regions along with industry specific knowledge, including the global energy market, the mining industry and the automotive industry. I would like to thank Sir Michael Peat and Karl Gruber for agreeing to remain on the board and assist with the transition process and I would also like to thank Laurie Argo for her contribution to the Board.”
