Press speculates that CEO of Magyar Telekom, Mr Elek Straub could have to leave because of a probe into contracts at its Montenegrin unit – referring to unidentified company officials. According to business weekly HVG, the company's majority owner, Deutsche Telekom intends to replace Mr Elek Straub with Mr Tamás Pásztory, who is currently in charge of MTEL's legal and human resources department. The newspaper sees that Mr Straub could announce its leave on MTEL’s upcoming EGM on 9 October.
MTEL’s spokesman has denied the news, saying that Mr Straub is expected to remain in his role until his contract expires in June 2008.
Our view: We see the news as neutral. We believe, the leave of Mr Straub could have a short-term negative impact, since he had been the CEO of MTEL for 11 years. However, we see it rationale that the company is looking for responsible persons for the contracts made in Montenegro. Please note that the Montenegrin subsidiary's board has already been fully replaced.
In the meantime, market focuses on the date when the 2005 annual financial statements will become audited. MTEL has set an AGM for 15 November, hoping the statements could become audited by that time.