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Saudi Aramco Holds First General Assembly after IPO

Saudi Aramco will hold its first general assembly Monday after its IPO. (Reuters file photo)
Saudi Aramco will hold its first general assembly Monday after its IPO. (Reuters file photo)
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Saudi Aramco Holds First General Assembly after IPO

Saudi Aramco will hold its first general assembly Monday after its IPO. (Reuters file photo)
Saudi Aramco will hold its first general assembly Monday after its IPO. (Reuters file photo)

Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil exporter, will hold its first general assembly Monday after its partial initial public offering (IPO) in the Saudi market.

Aramco's board of directors issued a statement inviting its shareholders to attend its first ordinary general assembly through the Tadawulaty system.

The statement said the meeting will be held online following the directives of the Capital Market Authority (CMA), which called for the suspension of physical attendance of general assembly meetings until further notice, and urged all companies to hold such meetings remotely.

This also comes in line with the precautionary measures issued by health authorities to limit the spread of COVID-19.

In order to be able to attend the meeting and vote, Aramco encouraged all its shareholders to register via the Tadawulaty system.

The eligibility to participate in the general assembly meeting and vote electronically on its agenda will be for shareholders that are registered in Saudi Aramco’s shareholders register at the Securities Depository Center (Edaa) as of the end of the trading session on the general assembly meeting day, and as per the relevant rules and regulations, according to the statement.

The company explained that the ordinary general assembly meeting shall be valid only if it is attended by one or more shareholders representing at least one quarter of the ordinary shares, provided that the state is represented.

However, if the quorum is not satisfied, a second meeting shall be held one hour after the designated period for the first meeting has ended. The second meeting shall be valid regardless of the number of ordinary shares represented, provided that the State is represented.

The statement announced that the attendees will vote on the report for the FY 2019. It will also appoint an external auditor and determine their fees to review and audit the company’s: financial statements for Q2 and Q3 for FY 2020, annual financial statements of FY 2020, and financial statements for Q1 of FY 2021.

Electronic voting started last Thursday and will continue until the general assembly meeting is concluded.

Meanwhile, Aramco’s shares closed trading Sunday at $8.3, while Saudi shares closed at a 0.8 percent gain, a 54-point increase.

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Thousands Protest Bulgaria's Euro Adoption and Call for Referendum

A protester shouts anti-euro slogans in front of signs reading 'Preserve Bulgarian Lev!' during an anti-Euro protest in Sofia, Bulgaria, Saturday 31, May 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A protester shouts anti-euro slogans in front of signs reading 'Preserve Bulgarian Lev!' during an anti-Euro protest in Sofia, Bulgaria, Saturday 31, May 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
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Thousands Protest Bulgaria's Euro Adoption and Call for Referendum

A protester shouts anti-euro slogans in front of signs reading 'Preserve Bulgarian Lev!' during an anti-Euro protest in Sofia, Bulgaria, Saturday 31, May 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
A protester shouts anti-euro slogans in front of signs reading 'Preserve Bulgarian Lev!' during an anti-Euro protest in Sofia, Bulgaria, Saturday 31, May 2025. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)

Days before Bulgaria was expected to become the 21st member of the eurozone, opponents of the move geared up Saturday for a final battle to change the schedule.

Thousands of protesters gathered on a central square in downtown Sofia to protest government plans to adopt the euro and to demand a referendum on the new currency. The European Union has given the green light for Bulgaria to adopt the euro starting Jan. 1, The Associated Press reported.

The protesters, led by civic groups, nationalist and pro-Russian parties known for their opposition to the euro, declared that after the rally they intended to set up a tent camp on the central square, dubbed “Town of the lev,” after the name of the national currency.

On a platform for speakers hung a huge banner that read “The battle for the Bulgarian lev is the last battle for Bulgaria.”

The leader of the pro-Russian Vazrazhdane party Kostadin Kostadinov told the protesters that the country will be stripped of its currency.

“Someone else will decide how we spend our money, the Bulgarian budget will be approved by the European Central Bank," he said. “This is an anti-state coup, this is treason.”

Kostadinov announced that lawmakers from Germany, Lithuania, Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary have joined the event to support the protest.

Ahead of the demonstration, Vazrazhdane submitted in Parliament a motion for a vote of no confidence in the current government, accusing it of failing to undertake necessary reforms to restore stability to public finances and working for the forceful adoption of the euro.

Parliament will vote on the motion next week, but the pro-EU government coalition is expected to survive.

The Balkan country joined the European Union in 2007 and is now on the final stretch of its accession to the eurozone. The last institutional hurdle is the approval from both the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council in Brussels, scheduled for July 8.

These steps come after the European Council gave its clear endorsement of Bulgaria joining the eurozone on Jan. 1, 2026.

During its almost two decades-long EU membership, Bulgaria has been plagued by political instability and corruption that have fueled euroscepticism among its 6.4 million citizens.

Now, scores of false claims by opponents of the eurozone have been published on social networks feeding fears of economic changes that they say could bring more poverty.

Economists say joining the euro will not bring massive change to Bulgaria’s economy in the short run. That’s because the government has pegged the currency to the euro by law, at a fixed rate of 1 lev for every 51 eurocents.