Sources inform “Globes” that incoming Pele-Phone chairman Benny Vaknin has announced a 20% reduction, to NIS 70,000, in his monthly salary, following harsh criticism at the meeting of the Bezeq (TASE:BZEQ) board of directors. The directors complained that Vaknin’s NIS 85,000 salary was more than double that the NIS 41,000 earned by the chairman of Pele-Phone parent company, Bezeq.
The Pele-Phone board approved Vaknin’s appointment as company chairman at the beginning of last week, in place of Amnon Neubach. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his son, Omri, promoted Vaknin’s candidacy.
The Bezeq board can recommend a lower salary for Vaknin, since his salary requires approval from a Pele-Phone shareholders meeting, and Bezeq owns 50% of Pele-Phone.
Sources inform “Globes” that in addition to his monthly salary, Vaknin will receive an annual bonus of two months’ salary if the company meets its targets.
At a meeting chaired by Vaknin, Pele-Phone management outlined the company’s problem with third generation technology to the company board. One of the main reasons for the company’s hesitation is concern about network capacity, should the company choose CDMA technology.
The choice between Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Nortel Networks (NSYE: NT) as a supplier to upgrade the company network in outlying areas to 1x-CDMA technology was also outlined. The upgrade is expected to cost $30 million.
No response from Pele-Phone or Vaknin was available.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on April 24, 2003