The board of the company accepted Laurinaitis’ letter of resignation on Wednesday. Laurinaitis, who is a minority shareholder of Achemos Grupė, asked to be dismissed from January 30, the web portal lzinios.lt reported.
Flemming Lindeloev, board chairman of the concern, believes that the current situation of the company and its successful performance offer a good chance for a new executive head to open a new page in the group’s history, the report says.
Laurinaitis, long-term vice-president of Achemos Grupė, took the helm of Achemos Grupė in late 2011 after the death of Bronislovas Lubys, its majority shareholder. The concern reached an agreement with Russia’s Gazprom on the supply of cheaper natural gas to Achema, the fertilizer producer, under his leadership.
Quite a few staff members have recently left Achemos Grupė, including CFO Violeta Latvienė and spokeswoman Virginija Dunauskienė. Antanas Zabulis, president of Lithuania’s mobile operator Omnitel, stepped down as Achemos Grupė’s deputy chairman last year.
According to media reports, Lyda Lubienė, the widow of Lubys who has inherited a majority stake in Achemos Grupė, came into conflict with Romuladas Zadeika, Lubys’ son-in-law who is in chargge of law affairs of the company.
Lubienė owns 50.375 percent of Achemos Grupė’s shares together with her daughter Viktorija Lubytė.
Established in 2001, Achemos Grupė now controls more than 50 companies in Lithuania and abroad, including Achema, Klaipėdos Jūrų Krovinių Kompanija (Klaipėda Stevedoring Company, or Klasco) and the fertilizer producer Agrochema, as well as media companies and hotels, and a wind farm in western Lithuania.
Achemos Grupė posted 207 million litas in profit before tax on the revenues of 4.07 billion litas (EUR 1.18b) for 2011.
