Today, December 8, 2005, the Extraordinary General Shareholders meeting of the OJSK “South Verkhoyansk Mining Company” (SVMC) has elected a new Board of the company.

The new 6-member Board elected by the EGM includes the following members: President of CJSC Polyus Evgueni Ivanov, Vice-president of CJSC Polyus German Pikhoya, Larisa Gorbatova, Ivan Bakulev, Sergey Spirin, Artyom Borisanov. All newly elected members of the Board represent CJSC "Polyus".

The first meeting of the new Board of OJSC SVMC will be convened in the near future. This meeting will elect the Chairman of the Board.

Commenting on the event the President of Polyus Evgueni Ivanov said: “The election of the new Board of SVMC is an example of the company’s efforts to adhere to the highest corporate governance standards. The new Board will supervise the Nezhdaninskoye deposit development program. The Board will also take care about preparation of the long-term and mid-term programs of the SVMC development. All that will make the operating company of Nezhdaninskoye better manageable and will ensure that corporate programs and decision-making at SVMC will be transparent for the company’s shareholders”.