Chernomyrdin persuades Yeltsin to let Vyakhirev stay on at Gazprom

Viktor Chernomyrdin, chairman of the Gazprom board of directors, succeeded in persuading Boris Yeltsin not to force the question of the replacement of Gazprom management during his meeting with the Russian president on August 3. According to available data, the Kremlin promised not to push for the replacement of Rem Vyakhirev as Gazprom CEO in return for another seat on the company board and for further moves by Gazprom, a major shareholder and creditor of the Russian NTV television company, to exert pressure on NTV to suppress its harsh criticism of the presidential administration. In addition, in response to the attacks of the Fuel and Energy Ministry and the ORT television company against the Itera company, close to Gazprom, Igor Makarov, Itera's president, voiced his readiness to prove that all the deals between Itera and Gazprom are economically efficient for the Russian gas concern, referring to international auditors.