Sources inform "Globes" that Ashdod Port chairman Gideon Sitterman will shortly leave his post. The background to Sitterman's resignation is a dismissal procedure initiated by the Government Companies Authority, headed by Ori Yogev. "Globes" has learned that Sitterman's lawyer, Yaakov Weinrot, has reached agreement in principle with the Government Companies Authority whereby the dismissal procedure will be halted when Sitterman announces his resignation.
"I wish to inform you of my intention of ending my term as executive chairman of Ashdod Port Company," Sitterman wrote in letters sent today to Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz and Minister of Finance Yair Lapid. "The heart surgery that I recently underwent, and the need for a period of convalescence, oblige me on the advice of my physician to reduce my workload… I wish success to all concerned in meeting the challenges facing the Port Company."
No response was obtainable from Sitterman.
In early December, Sitterman was summoned to a pre-dismissal hearing together with two other Ashdod Port directors, Sarit Booblil and Arie Bardugo, because of "apparent failures in the management and supervision of the port". A large part of the findings against Siterman was based on claims raised against him by former Ashdod Port CEO Shuki Sagis, who resigned last July because of a personal dispute with Sitterman. as first reported in "Globes".
Since being summoned for a hearing, Sitterman has corresponded with the Government Companies Athority via Adv. Weinrot, and even approached the State Comptroller with a request for an order of protection against dismissal on the grounds that he had exposed corruption at the port. The Commissioner for Public Complaints at the State Comptroller's Office decided, however, that there were no grounds for granting Sitterman such an order. His decision apparently left Sitterman with no choice but to reach an agreement, before resigning.
Sitterman has been summoned several times to appear before the Government Companies Authority for an oral hearing, but pleaded health constraints in asking for the hearing to be postponed. Meanwhile, the Authority has completed the hearings procedures for the other two directors, and the decision on their cases is expected to be announced within the next few days.
Since November, when Sagis's resignation took effect, the Ashdod Port Company has functioned without a CEO. Yossi Bassan, who was acting CEO, resigned from the position last month. At the beginning of this week, the Government Companies Authority ordered the process of finding a new CEO to be resumed. The previous appointment process was frozen by the Authority in December because Sitterman and the other directors participated in it.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 6, 2014
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