Urals Energy Plc Regulatory News (UEN)

Urals Energy PCL

(''Urals Energy'' or the ''Company'')

Board Changes

Urals Energy PCL (AIM:UEN), the independent exploration and production company with operations in Russia, is pleased to announce the following changes to its Board with immediate effect.

Leonid Dyachenko, who has successfully led Urals Energy as its Executive Chairman since 2009 and has held a number of positions since the Company listed in 2005, stands down as Executive Chairman and remains as an executive director of the Company. Andrew Shrager, who held the position of Chairman with Urals Energy NV prior to the Company's IPO in 2005, returns to take up the position of Non-Executive Chairman. Stephen Buscher, who held the position of CFO at Urals Energy between 2005 and 2007, also returns to the Board as a non-executive director. Finally, Torbjörn Ranta, also joins the Board as a non-executive director.

As a result, the Company now has a board of three executive directors and four non-executive directors.

Commenting on the appointments, Alexei Maximov, Chief Executive Officer of Urals Energy, said: "We are delighted to welcome Andrew, Stephen and Torbjörn to the Board and we look forward to their collective input and counsel. It is particularly pleasing that Andrew and Stephen are returning to the Urals Energy Board as both know this Company well and their appointments clearly demonstrate that the legacy situation that the Company endured are nearly resolved.

"The Board would also like to extend its welcome to Torbjörn, who brings to the Company his significant sector experience which will serve as a catalyst in assisting us search for new assets."

Andrew Shrager is a private investor with a wealth of experience in investment banking. Some of his main roles include: senior adviser at Renaissance Capital (emerging markets); senior advisor to Merrill Lynch (Energy & Power group throughout Russia and Central Europe); especially the British Petroleum TNK acquisition; director of corporate finance at Lazard Brothers, where he advised both the Central Electricity Generating Board on its privatisation and National Power on its IPO. Between 2001 and 2012 Andrew was a director of Utilyx, one of the UK's leading specialists in energy and carbon, and between 2007 and 2010, he was a director of GeoDynamics Research. Since 2012, Andrew has held the position of CEO at GeoDynamics Worldwide, an international oil service and investment company.

Stephen Buscher has extensive financial experience, particularly in Russia, where he has lived and worked in the financial sector and subsequently the oil business for over twnety years. He acted as the Co-head of the Moscow office for Lazard Freres and Merrill Lynch, where he was overall relationship manager for CIS oil businesses. Stephen also founded and co-managed Eurasia Capital Partners, a private M&A advisory boutique with offices in Moscow and London before entering the oil and gas business. He graduated from Connecticut College in 1983. He also received a diploma from the London School of Economics in 1987 and a Masters in Business Administration from Yale University in 1991.

Stephen Buscher held the position of Chief Financial Officer when Urals Energy successfully listed on AIM in 2005, a position he held until August 2007. He then took up the Chief Financial Officer role at Terralliance Technologies in 2007, an oil and gas exploration company privately owned by Goldman Sachs and Kleiner Perkins. Stephen has recently been with the investment company Sistema as Executive Vice President investment strategy, and secondly as the Chief Executive Officer of Navitas Global Resources, the foreign project and exploration division and wholly-owned subsidiary of RussNeft.

Torbjörn Ranta has been actively involved in various Russian business projects since the mid 1990s and is a fluent Russian speaker. He has during this period been the CEO of a number of publicly listed natural resources companies such as Vostok Nafta Investment Ltd, Vostok Oil Ltd, Central Asia Gold AB and Malka Oil AB. He also represented North Atlantic Natural Resources AB between 1998 to 2001 as a Board Member of the Swedish exploration and mining company, the Lundin Group. He graduated from Stockholm School of Economics with a degree in Business Administration and Economics. He also worked for a year in 1982 at the Swedish Embassy in Moscow as a member of the consular section. Since 2009, Mr. Ranta has acted as Senior Consultant to several clients via his own company T. Ranta Företagsjuridik AB (TRFJAB) and in June 2012 accepted the contract position of Chief Operation Officer with Australian junior oil company Sprint Energy. He has also worked with Alpcot Capital Management Limited, which is the largest shareholder in Urals Energy.

The Company announces that it intends to convene its Annual General Meeting in February 2013. The Notice of AGM will be sent to shareholders in January 2013.

- Ends -

For further information, please contact:

Media enquiries:

In accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules the following information in relation to the appointment of Mr. Andrew Henry Shrager, aged 67, to the Board of Urals Energy is disclosed:

Current Directorships and Partnerships:

- GeoDynamics WorldWide S.r.l.

- Falcon Petroleum Limited

- Falcon Oil Investments Limited

- Seismic Data Integration S.r.l.

- Bluepod Media Limited

- BPM Worldwide Limited

- Hillsilk Limited

- Scot Oil & Gas Limited

- Micho 337 Limited

- Venture Exploration Limited

Directorships and Partnerships held in the last five years:

- Utilyx Limited

- GeoDynamics Research S.r.l.

Andrew Shrager was a director of Octagon Energy Limited at the time it was placed into Administrative Receivership on 26 August 2003 following the sale of a secured loan and default by Enron Corporation. The Octagon assets were sold by the Receiver at the same time as Receivers were appointed in a "Pre-Pack" for approximately £1 million. At the time of the receivership Octagon Energy Limited purportedly owed approximately £4 million on the secured loan which debt was disputed because of the defaults by Enron Corporate and counterclaims against Enron Corporation. Subsequently the major shareholder and creditor of Octagon sued the Administrative Receivers in the High Court for failing in their duties to the Company and selling the assets at a gross undervalue. An independent report on Octagon's assets valued them at over £106 million. The Administrative Receivers admitted liability and settled out of Court for the full amount owed to the creditor and agreed to pay costs.

In 2010 GeoDynamics Research S.r.l entered into a court approved agreement with it's creditors to pay off it's obligations of €3,160,000 within a period of 4 years. Andrew Shrager was a director (and CEO) of GeoDynamics Research S.r.l. at the time of the court approved engagement and resigned from GeoDynamics Research S.r.l. on 1 January 2011.

Save for the information disclosed above there is no other information falling to be disclosed on Mr Shrager under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules.

In accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules the following information in relation to the appointment of Mr. Stephen Myers Buscher, aged 51, to the Board of Urals Energy is disclosed:

Current Directorships and Partnerships:

- None

Directorships and Partnerships held in the last five years:

- Navitas Global Resources Limited

- Kura Valley Petroleum Company Limited

Save for the information disclosed above there is no other information falling to be disclosed on Mr Buscher under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules.

In accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules the following information in relation to the appointment of Mr. Torbjörn Ranta, aged 50, to the Board of Urals Energy is disclosed:

Current Directorships and Partnerships:

- Torvald Ranta Foretagsjuridik AB

- Mitra International AB

Directorships and Partnerships held in the last five years:

- Tomsk Refining AB

- Malka Oil AB

- Central Asia Gold AB

- Karelia Timber AB (now known as Karelia Timber Intressenter AB)

- Alpcot Agro AB

- BBAH Incentive AB

- BBAH Sweden AB

- Miragro AB

- Koplylovskoye AB

- D. Steinbock Advisory Group

- Odyx AB

- Black Sea Properties AB

-

Save for the information disclosed above there is no other information falling to be disclosed on Mr Ranta under Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules.