In a Facebook comment on a recent change of shareholders in Armbusinessbank, Armenia’s former minister of labor andsocial affairs Maneh Tandilyan describes it as a ‘mysterious deal.
According to Tandilyan, one of the new owners of Armbusinessbank, which was in quite a bad financial state according to its financial statements, is a Swisscompany that owns now 75% of the bank’s stake, while the other 25% are owned by the Housing for Young Families state-owned refinancing credit organization,founded by the Central Bank.
Citing Armenia’s Law on the Central Bank, Tandilyan says the deal is a gross violation of the law that bans the regulator from interfering in the activities ofcommercial banks.
“What was the actual purpose of the Central Bank in becoming a shareholder of Armbusinessbank? Why didn’t the Swiss company acquire all 100% of the shares?How much did the Central Bank pay for the purchase of the commercial bank’s shares?” questions Tandilyan, pointing out that the existence of these and manysimilar questions make this transaction non-transparent, accompanied by a clear conflict of interest.
She also touched on the recent appointment of former Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan to the Board of Armbusinessbank.
“I tend to think that Swiss investors appreciated Avinyan’s experience as a loan officer in one of the banks 10 years ago. According to some rumors,Armbusinessbank used to act as an intermediary in suspicious deals of influential representatives of the authorities, which led to its financial problems,” Tandilyanwrote.
She expressed hope that the Central Bank will give proper comments on this mysterious deal and law enforcement bodies will at least look into the facts.
About Armbusinessbank
According to the information placed on the website of the bank, its new shareholders are MFM Global Invest LLC, Switzerland (74,998%) and the refinancingcredit organization Housing for the Young Families, Armenia (25,001%).
Previously, the bank’s shares were owned by citizens Vital Grigoryants (95%) and Arsen Mikayelyan (5 %.)
According to the official data, the bank’s profit in 2021 decreased by 70.31% from the previous year to AMD 537.2 million (approx. $1.12 million) . Its total capital dropped by 4.7% to about AMD 52.7 billion (approx. $109.8 million) , total assets decreased by 1.7% to AMD 88.9 billion (approx. $185.2 million) , and total liabilities decreased by 1.5% to about AMD 83.12 billion (approx. $173.2 million) .
Also, its loan portfolio decreased by 6.3% to AMD 610.2 billion (approx. $1.27 billion) . At the same time, the share of non-performing loans in the total portfolio stood at 1.8% , compared to 2.3% in 2020.
ARKA news agency has request a comment from the Central Bank concerning this deal. ($1 – 479 drams).
Based on the Gotthard Investment Fund Annual Report 2013, the organization section on page 4 states that the Management Company is IFOS Internationale Fonds Service AG, and the Custodian and Paying Agent is Verwaltungs- und Privat-Bank AG (VP Bank).
The Board of Directors includes Christoph Mauchleand Alfred Moeckli, both from Vaduz. Currently, these two individuals are set to join in 2022 the Supervisory Board of Amio Bank https://amiobank.am.
Gotthard Investment AG, with Konstantin Sokolov (Vice President) and Roland Räber (President), served as the Asset Manager responsible for managing the fund.
The fund is structured under the Gotthard Umbrella Fund, with the full legal entity name Gotthard Umbrella Fund — Gotthard Investment Fund.
The fund’s LEI is 529900ETLHCBWXXUDT94, with a legal address at Äulestrasse 6, Vaduz, LI-9490, c/o VP Fund Solutions (Liechtenstein) AG.
The Prosecutor General’s Office and the Moscow City Court have decided to extradite the Armenian filmmaker.
Stepan Martirosyan, executive producer of the Hollywood blockbuster “Escape Plan,” has been extradited from Russia to Armenia. Investigators believe he swindled Armbusinessbank owner Vitaly Grigoryants out of $50 million in his home country, promising him lucrative investments in the film business.A criminal case against Stepan Martirosyan was opened by the Chief Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia in September 2017. According to the case, Armbusinessbank owner Vitaly Grigoryants, through Stepan Martirosyan, invested $97 million in American film production between 2011 and 2013. Mr. Martirosyan, who lives in the United States, served as executive producer on such films as “Lone Survivor” and “Broken City,” starring Mark Wahlberg, and “Frozen Ground,” “End of Watch,” and “Escape Plan,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Jake Gyllenhaal. According to the producer, the investments failed, as the films he invested in flopped. Mr. Grigoryants, in turn, learned through his lawyers that his partner retained half of the investment—$50 million.
This is an experiment. An AI was asked to analyze the public page of JSC “Kompressor Komplex” on disclosure.ru (the Russian Center for Corporate Information Disclosure). The task was to study the reports, attempt to reconstruct the company’s transaction history, and examine its affiliated persons. Here’s what emerged.
All data comes from open sources, with over 120 documents analyzed. You can visit the link disclosure.ru/issuer/7811037607/, download the annual reports and lists of affiliated persons from 2008–2018, and verify each fact yourself.
Who Owned the Plant Before 2011
According to annual reports, until 2009 control over the enterprise was consolidated around LLC Rokada, which held 53.36% of shares [Annual Report 2009, Section 6.2]. The General Director of Rokada was Alexander Chistyakov [Report 2009, Section 5.2]. He also chaired the plant’s Board of Directors.
Alexander Ivanovich Chistyakov [according to unverified information, he is Konstantin Sokolov’s father-in-law; Chistyakov is his wife’s surname] served continuously on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2015 inclusive, serving as chairman from 2007–2011. From 2012 to 2015, he remained a regular board member and held the position of President for Strategic Management. After 2016, his name no longer appears in the Board of Directors.
In 2009, the plant was controlled by a group of individuals close to management with ties to the factory.
2011: The First Change of Ownership
In 2011, the ownership structure changed. Russian companies — LLC Rokada (holding 53.36% of shares) and LLC Karfin Invest (holding 23.99% of shares) — disappeared from the shareholder list. They were replaced by two foreign entities:
DACLERN SERVICES LIMITED (a Cypriot company) with a 53.36% stake
CREST WAVE BETA INVESTMENTS LIMITED (British Virgin Islands) with a 23.99% stake [Report 2011, Section 6.2]
The controlling stake moved to Cyprus. Who the real beneficiaries of these companies were remains unclear from the reports.
2012: The Loan, Guarantee, and Collateral
The most revealing events occurred one year later, in 2012. The annual report for that year contains a lengthy section titled “Company Transactions,” which reveals:
“LLC Argo takes a loan from Sberbank. The amount — $34.7 million USD” [Report 2012, “Company Transactions” section]. Based on standard LBO (leveraged buyout) lending practices, where borrowed funds cover 70–80% of the acquired stake’s value, the total share package that Argo was likely purchasing (presumably the shares previously held by Cypriot and offshore structures, comprising about 77% of the authorized capital) would have cost approximately $43–50 million. Consequently, 100% of the plant at that time would have been valued at $55–65 million. This estimate is indirectly supported by the value of the collateralized property (over 1.5 billion rubles, which at the 2012 exchange rate amounted to about $50 million). The plant (Kompressor Komplex) acted as guarantor and placed as collateral nearly all of its buildings and land (collateral valued at over 1.5 billion rubles).
In the same year, a debt transfer agreement was signed. Argo’s debt was transferred to the plant itself.
Board of Directors: 2011–2018
All data below comes from annual reports and official amendments to affiliated persons lists published on disclosure.ru.
Board of Directors 2011 Source: 2011 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section
Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (Chairman)
Denisenko Vladimir Vasilievich
Kovalevskaya Tatyana Vladimirovna
Novak Vyacheslav Viktorovich
Petrov Pavel Semenovich
Sokolov Konstantin Anatolievich
Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich *
Tonkacheev Evgeny Borisovich
Shaydak Yury Pavlovich
* Ilya Vyacheslavovich Sokolov (a possible relative or namesake of Konstantin Sokolov) is listed as a Board member (2011–2016) and General Director of LLC IFG-Basis-Proekt [2013 Annual Report]. He managed the project to convert a building on Nevsky Prospect, 7–9 into a hotel, which has been linked to Konstantin Sokolov, Evgeny Tonkacheev, and the IFG Basis fund.
Board of Directors (after reelection on April 16, 2012) In 2012, changes occurred. Until April 16, the composition was similar to 2011; afterward, a new board was elected at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.
Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich
Denisenko Vladimir Vasilievich
Katoraychik Olga Igorevna
Magay Lyudmila Grigorievna
Petrov Pavel Semenovich
Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich
Sokolov Konstantin Anatolievich
Tonkacheev Evgeny Borisovich
Kalenchits Dmitry Valentinovich
Board of Directors 2013 Source: 2013 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section
Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (0.99% stake)
Petrov Pavel Semenovich (0%)
Denisenko Vladimir Vasilievich (0%)
Kalenchits Dmitry Valentinovich (0%)
Katoraychik Olga Igorevna (0%)
Tonkacheev Evgeny Borisovich (0%)
Sokolov Konstantin Anatolievich (0.0042%)
Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%)
Magay Lyudmila Grigorievna (0%)
Board of Directors 2014 *Source: 2014 Annual Report + Amendments to Affiliated Persons List dated May 28, 2014*
Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (0%)
Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%)
Kobzev Daniil Sergeevich (0%) (Commercial Director, later General Director)
Yasnova Svetlana Alexandrovna (0%)
Kotelkin Yury Vladimirovich (0%)
Burkun Svetlana Valerievna (0%)
Kolchina Elena Evgenievna (0%)
Board of Directors 2015 Source: 2015 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section
Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (President for Strategic Management, 0%)
Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%)
Burkun Svetlana Valerievna (0%)
Dubenko Irina Nikolaevna (0%)
Obertov Evgeny Evaldovich (0%)
Board of Directors 2016 Source: 2016 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section
Serebryakov Yan Vladimirovich (0%) — Managing Director, PJSSC Sberbank
Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%) — the only remaining member from the “old team”
Korobko Andrey Vladimirovich (0%) — Deputy Chairman of the Board, Moscow Bank of Sberbank
Tovchigrechko Yury Mikhailovich (0%) — Deputy Head of Management, LLC Sberbank Capital
Board of Directors 2017 (Transitional Composition) Source: Shareholders’ Meeting Minutes dated June 29, 2017
Serebryakov Yan Vladimirovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
Svistunov Yury Alexandrovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
Kulyukin Denis Alexandrovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
Prokopenko Dmitry Sergeevich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
Borodaev Stanislav Viktorovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
Board of Directors Elected After Grossmann Rus Acquired the Plant (January 15, 2018) *Source: Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting Minutes dated January 15, 2018 (file: changes+to+board+composition.pdf, p. 4)*
Kulyukin Denis Alexandrovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
Gerard Edwin Daniel Hofmann-Corsano
Dmitriev Kirill Borisovich — representative of LLC GROSSMANN RUS
Dayev Mikhail Vyacheslavovich — representative of LLC GROSSMANN RUS
Sprygin Roman Sergeevich — representative of LLC GROSSMANN RUS
The Outcome
The offshore entities received the proceeds from the share sale. Kompressor Komplex became indebted to Sberbank.
Timeline of Subsequent Events
Konstantin Sokolov, according to the 2013 report, held a stake in the plant itself — 0.0042% [2013 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section].
2012–2018: Kompressor Komplex is associated with the Liechtenstein alternative investment fund Gothard Investment/Umbrella Fund [GIF Pitch Book 2012, Kommersant 09.12.2019].
2016: Top Sberbank managers join the plant’s Board of Directors [2016 Report, “Board of Directors” section].
2017: Control transfers to LLC GROSSMANN RUS. Its representatives join the Board [2017 Report].
2019–2022: The plant is declared bankrupt.
2023–2024: The plant’s assets are sold off [Kommersant 08.23.2024].
Conclusions
Analysis of the documents paints a picture all too familiar in 2010s Russia: offshore companies, a multi-million dollar loan secured against the plant, debt transferred onto the enterprise, and bankruptcy.
First, the plant’s shares “sail away” to Cyprus and offshore jurisdictions. Then, a structure tied to the new owners takes out a massive loan from Sberbank — the plant puts up its workshops as collateral, and the debt ends up on the enterprise itself. The money disappears in an unknown direction.
Konstantin Sokolov and Evgeny Tonkacheev appear on the plant’s board just as this scheme begins and vanish precisely when the plant starts to sink.
In the end, the plant goes bankrupt, its assets are sold at auction, and — as is so often the case — no one is held accountable.
The major shareholder of the Irkutsk Oil Company Nikolay Buynov and his partners became the sole owners of the project to reconstruct the building at 7-9 Nevsky Avenue under luxury hotel. In 2017, 68% of LLC Project 5-7 became owners of the related structures, and this fall another 32% of the company, which previously belonged to a Sberbank’s subsidiary, was acquired. Kommersant sources assume that the investor initially agreed with the bank to purchase 100% project shares, but the deal was divided into several stages.
LLC Prior-Nedvizhimost owned by Nikolay Buynov and his partners became this autumn the sole owner of the LLC Project 5-7 company, which is sole owner of LLC IFG-Basis-Proekt (an investor in the construction of a hotel at 7-9 Nevsky Avenue).
Information about this fact was specified in online business information system “SPARK-Interfax”. Previously, companies close to INC shareholders got 68% shares in “Project 5-7” LLC, and another 32% was owned by Sberbank Investments Limited (Sberbanks’ subsidiary).
Nikolay Buynov and his partners became the main owners of the hotel project in Nevsky in 2017 by purchasing a stake in the project from Sberbank Investments Limited. A source familiar with the project suggests that the agreements between the parties initially provided for the exit of Sberbank from the project. “Sberbank often sells an investor a share in the project, and then gives him the opportunity to buy the remaining minority share at a certain price,” he said.
According to the Kommersant interlocutor, the deal indicates that the structures close to the owners of the INC have fulfilled their obligations under the project.The Bank refused to comment, the INC did not respond to Kommersant’s inquiry. Vice-President of Becar Asset Management Olga Sharygina estimates 32% of the project at 1.2 billion rubles. A Kommersant source on the St. Petersburg banking market notes that such transactions are often cashless. The main motivation for the bank at their conclusion is to close the problem loan, not to make a profit, he explains. “Most likely, Sberbank immediately agreed on the terms of exit from the project, binding it to certain covenants. It needed to make sure that the investor would meet some of the conditions. In this situation, we may be talking about town planning stories such as obtaining permits,” the Kommersant’s interlocutor explains.
Reconstruction of the Wavelberg house has been going on for nine years. In 2010, the historic building on Nevsky Avenue with the area of 9.1 thousand square meters was granted to LLC IFG-Basis-Proekt. At that time company was owned by Aplerson Holding Limited, an offshore Cypriot company. By 2014, the investor planned to complete the project and agreed regarding hotel management with the Jumeirah Group. But ex-owners could not finish the project.
According to a source of “Kommersant” newspaper, this was due to the fact that the company had difficulties with servicing the bank loan after the devaluation of the ruble in 2014. In 2016, the project ownership was transferred under the control of the Sberbank.
According “Kommersant” source, “Aplerson Holding Limited” was a division of IFG Basis (see “Kommersant” from 31. 07. 2014). Kommersant sources declare that IFG Basis was associated with Konstantin Sokolovand former Managing Director of Basic Element Evgeny Tonkacheev.
Evgeny Tonkacheev denied his involvement in the project. According to “Kommersant” source, the Liechtenstein alternative investment fund Gotthard Umbrella Fund (GUF) / Gotthard Investment Fund was involved in the hotel project. According to the GUF report for 2018 hotel on Nevsky was part of the portfolio of the fund along with a hotel on the Fontanka embankment, 145, a shopping mall on Prosveshchenie 80, and the company “Kompressor Komplex”. According to the document, GUF completed the sale of two hotel projects in the first quarter of 2019 and now has no relation to them. It is interesting that the second project, in which the Fund participated, also went to structures close to the shareholders of
INC (see “Ъ” from 12. 03. 2019). According to www.kartoteka.ru, the deal took place in late 2018.
The structures close to INC shareholders expect to complete the reconstruction of the Wavelberg house by the end of 2019 – beginning of 2020. By this date, a five-star hotel with 78 rooms should appear here, Sergey Serpenev, a representative of
IFG-Basis-Project, told Kommersant. According to newspaper “Delovoy St. Petersburg”, to expand the room stock in March this year the company purchased apartments in the outbuilding of the house at 5, Malaya Morskaya Street, with a total area of about 1.1 thousand square meters.
Russian businessmen used Cypriot companies to get millions from investors
A case of fraud of an amount above 2,5 million euros is in Cyprus courts focused on a Canadian investor and two Russian businessmen that have secured a large amount of money as an investment in a company based in Cyprus and since then they appear to have defrauded the Canadian, who is asking to liquidate the Cyprus company in order to note the exact amount of the fraud.
The case that took place in a labyrinthine complex of companies and funds fromLichtenstein that ends up in the Cyprus company Posparon Investments Limited, for which the liquidation application has been made in court and in which the directors are the two Russians Olgа Kаtоrаychik and Iliа Sоkоlоv.
Russia-Cyprus-Lichtenstein triangle
The two managers convinced the Canadian through a fund that was registered in Lichtenstein to invest 2,5 m. dollars in the Russian company “Kompressor Komplex” which was initially oriented to production of centrifugal compressor machines, reducers and spare parts, to be used in gas, oil, chemical, metallurgical and other branches of heavy industries. In addition, in the agreement that was signed, Posparon Ltd appeared to possess 80% of “Kompressor Komplex”, but according to the liquidation application, Posparon only has 100% of the Cyprus company Wellinom Holdings Ltd, which has the same directors as Posparon, ms. Olgа Kаtоrаychik and Iliа Sоkоlоv.
The two directors, according to the case that is in front of the Cyprus justice system, showed the investor that there was an adjustment of the reasonable value of the investment by 8 m. dollars, without having shown the financial statements of the subsidiaries of Posparon Ltd, which had an objective value and operations. Also, according to the Cyprus audit firm, whose name is at the disposal of 24h.com.cy, the adjustment of the investment was reasonable, as the net value of the assets of the subsidiary company of Posparon Ltd increased.
In 2014, Iliа Sоkolоv finally sent the financial statements to the Canadian investor and his lawyers, but the explanations provided to increase the value of the subsidiary of Posparon Ltd didn’t satisfy the investor, as it wasn’t clear how the increase of the value of the investment in Wellimom or the subsidiary Agro or the Russian company Kompressor Komplex. The explanations provided via e-mail the Russian managers of the companies made things even more complicated, as the Russian company, the subsidiary of the Cyprus, had taken a long-term loan of 35 m. dollars approximately from a Russian bank and this loan was the reason the value of the mother company increased in the end.
Konstantin Sokolov behind Kompressor Komplex
After all that, the Canadian that was reasonably shaken asked for a meeting with the Russian directors Olgа Kаtоrаychik and Iliа Sоkоlоv but also the final beneficiary, Konstantin Sokolov, to ask for explanations for the suspicions of fraud he had as well as the forgery that took place with the financial statements. Konstantin Sokolov ensured the investor that from now on he would get up-to-date information personally from Mr. Konstantin Sokolov regarding the course of his investment.
They tried to cover up the forgery Finally, until 2017, the investor did not receive any substantial information and in spite of the constant attempts of his lawyers to find out the truth, the Board of Directors of the Cyprus company Posparon Ltd, meaning the two Russian directors not only did not investigate the matter, but they also moved forward to convene a general assembly with a subject to reapprove the audited financial statements of the Cyprus company without giving any other explanation on why the reapproval of the financial statements was necessary for Posparon Ltd for the years 2013 and 2014.
In the application for the liquidation of the company, it is mentioned that the Canadian investor considers that there are serious indications of mismanagement and possible inappropriate diligent administration on behalf of the Board of Directors and that the operations of the company were done with deception, with the “help” of the Cyprus audit firm that was used by the Russian directors. 24h.com.cy will continue its investigation on the involvement of Cyprus audit firms and/or legal offices in this case that has larger implications.
The company’s shareholders are implementing a second hotel project in St. Petersburg.
Kommersant has learned that shareholders of the Irkutsk Oil Company (INK) have expressed interest in the reconstruction of the Shagin House on the Fontanka Embankment into a three-star hotel. According to Kommersant’s sources, individuals associated with them last year took ownership of the hotel project, which has been stalled for over ten years. This is the second project in the St. Petersburg hotel industry with ties to INK’s owners.
The construction of a hotel at 145B Fontanka River Embankment, Building A, will be financed by INK shareholders, a source familiar with the situation told Kommersant. This information was confirmed to Kommersant by Philip Apostol, CEO of Apostol’s Architectural Workshop LLC (which is developing the project concept). Mr. Apostol explained to Kommersant that a three-star hotel with up to 150 rooms is planned for the historic building. If the design allows, it could be a four-star hotel, another Kommersant source clarified.
According to Kommersant’s source, entities associated with INK shareholders became owners of the hotel project late last year. Mr. Apostol provided Kommersant with similar information. According to kartoteka.ru , the company implementing the project, Nezhiloy Fond Consult, is owned by Cyprus-based Fraiser Development. A Kommersant source close to the project dismisses this information as incorrect, stating that Nezhiloy Fond Consult is currently owned by a private individual associated with INK. The change in the project’s ownership is indirectly evidenced by the change in the general director of Nezhiloy Fond Consult JSC in November 2018. At that time, Alexandra Serpeneva became the company’s new director, whose last name and patronymic match those of Anna Serpeneva, the general director of IFG-Bazis-Proekt LLC (the investor in the luxury hotel project at 7-9 Nevsky Prospekt, whose primary owner, through a chain of companies, is Nikolay Buinov, founder of INK. INK did not respond to Kommersant’s request.
NK is Russia’s largest independent company, not part of any vertically integrated oil holdings. The company explores and produces hydrocarbons in the Irkutsk Region, Yakutia, and Krasnoyarsk Krai. Last year, the company produced 9 million tons of oil and gas condensate. The company’s main shareholder is Nikolai Buinov, whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $2.2 billion.
Yunis Teymurkhanly, owner and general manager of the Helvetia Hotel, estimates that investment in the project could reach $10-12 million (660-800 million rubles at the current exchange rate). Ekaterina Teyder, director of development at Becar Asset Management, estimates 670-710 million rubles if the hotel opens under an international brand. Without a foreign operator, the investment would be lower, she notes.
The reconstruction of the Shagin House into a hotel dates back over ten years. According to the first version of the investment agreement, the company “Nezhiloy Fond Consult,” which received the building from the city in 2008, was required to complete the project within 40 months. When it became clear that the work would not be completed on time, Smolny extended the agreement until 2015. During the project’s implementation, the city attempted to terminate the agreement with the investor, citing failure to fulfill its obligations, but lost in court. Market participants linked “Nezhiloy Fond Consult” to former Vice Governor of St. Petersburg Yuri Molchanov, although he denied this information. The maximum area of the hotel after reconstruction is not to exceed 7,300 square meters.
Construction of the hotel hasn’t begun yet; design work is currently underway, according to one of Kommersant’s sources. Another Kommersant source said the project’s parameters will comply with the investment agreement, and the construction phase will take no more than two years. The building is “in a terrible state and contains numerous hazardous elements,” notes Mr. Apostol. The Property Relations Committee told Kommersant that the investment agreement is valid, and the construction permit is scheduled for August 2019, with the occupancy permit scheduled for July 2021. The Investment Committee did not respond to Kommersant’s request for comment.
The interest of INK’s main owner, Nikolai Buinov, and his partners in the hotel business became known in 2017, when they acquired a 68% stake in IFG-Bazis-Proekt, a company developing a luxury hotel at 7-9 Nevsky Prospekt (see Kommersant, November 13, 2018). Prior to this, they had not been known as investors in the hotel business. Their first project also had a troubled history: seven years passed after Smolny handed over the building for the hotel to the investor, but the project was never completed. In 2016, the company was acquired by Sberbank entities. The lending institution still maintains a connection to the project—Sberbank Investments Limited owns 32% of it.
Mr. Teymurkhanly believes the Fontanka location is an excellent location for opening a budget three-star hotel or hostel. There’s steady demand for hotels in this price range, and it will be successful without the international branding required for more premium hotels, he believes. A source at an international hotel chain is more skeptical: “There’s intense competition with hotels of a similar class in this area, so this hotel won’t benefit from it, and given the construction costs, it seems a dubious project.”
Maxim Poletaev resigned “due to the need to change his operating mode.”
June 14, 2018
Sberbank announced on Thursday that Maxim Poletaev, First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank, is leaving his post . According to a press release, the top manager resigned ” due to the need to change the operating mode.” The bank’s press service did not provide any further details.
Poletaev will become an advisor to Sberbank President and Chairman of the Management Board Herman Gref and will oversee several major projects, the bank announced. The announcement did not specify when the top manager will change positions.
This isn’t the only change in Sberbank’s management. According to the announcement, Alexander Bazarov, Senior Vice President and Co-Head of Sberbank CIB’s Investment Division, has also been removed from the bank’s Management Board . He will continue to work at the bank in his current position, retaining his official duties, the bank announced.
Sberbank Senior Vice President Alexander Vedyakhin has been promoted to First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, and fellow Senior Vice President Anatoly Popov has been promoted to Deputy Chairman of the Management Board. Both will join Sberbank’s Management Board after their candidacies are approved by the regulator, the bank announced.
Poletaev has been with Sberbank since 1995. Before joining the bank’s central office, he managed its Moscow branch from 2009 to 2013. He became Sberbank’s first deputy chairman in 2013. At Sberbank, Poletaev oversaw the bank’s business operations and corporate client relations. Specifically, he oversaw cooperation with the Croatian company Agrokor. Gref previously announced Poletaev’s trip to Croatia, where they discussed further resolution of the retailer’s debt.
On Thursday, June 14, Reuters sources reported that Poletaev was leaving the lending institution. The agency’s sources did not specify the reasons for Poletaev’s decision. Reuters noted that in his position, he focused on investment issues and corporate banking. A contact of Poletaev’s confirmed to Vedomosti that the manager was leaving Sberbank of his own accord.
Swiss police have searched the premises of Ruag, the state-controlled armament producer. The authorities are investigating secret arms deals, in which a Julius Baer banker is said to be involved. The banker has been suspended.
The office of the Swiss attorney general has searched the premises of Ruag on Thursday, confiscating mediums to save information. The authority confirmed the action against Ruag according to a report by «Handelszeitung».
The police are investigating allegations of secret arms deals and possibly also the payment of briberies. The goods involved in the deals are equipment for helicopters, Sig-Sauer handguns and sniper rifles for Vladimir Putin’s personal security guard.
Whistleblower at Ruag
The investigation reportedly was prompted by a whistleblower working for Ruag. The people involved in the probe are a manager at Ruag and the head of office in Moscow of Julius Baer private bank. At the time when the deals started, the banker had still been employed by VP Bank of Liechtenstein, according to the report.
The two managers seem to have made the deals in person and behind the backs of their employers. Also, they are said to have received fees worth millions of Swiss francs.
Julius Baer to Probe Allegations
Which prompted the Russian government to take note as well: the anti-corruption body of the Russian interior ministry questioned the banker for a first time in February.
A Julius Baer spokesman told «Handelszeitung» that it had taken note of the allegations and that it was investigating them. Ruag also is cooperating fully with the authorities.
Ruag, Julius Baer Issue Suspension
Both the manager working for Ruag and the banker at Julius Baer have been suspended by their respective employers, according to a report by «NZZ» (story in German language).
The newspaper also said that a third had been involved in the sale of the arms to Russia, an arms dealer based in Zug.
(This story is based on documentary investigation and exclusive materials from Evgeny Karasyuk’s book “The Elephant on the Dance Floor: How German Gref and His Team Teach Sberbank to Dance”)
In 2002, an event occurred in Yaroslavl that didn’t make the newspapers but marked the beginning of one of the most sensational corporate sagas in modern Russian history. A young man named Poletaev, not yet thirty, received an appointment that could have derailed anyone’s career. From quiet Yaroslavl, he was sent into the heart of the fire—to Irkutsk, to head Sberbank’s Baikal Bank.
Illustrative AI-generated image of a regional bank office resembling Sberbank.
No one could have guessed then that this was the start of the journey for a man who would become German Gref’s right hand, a “firefighter” reformer, and the architect of the country’s largest bank’s modern face. But the history hidden behind the dry lines of personnel reshuffles is full of drama and unexpected twists.
Part 1. Yaroslavl: The Riddle of the Beginning Frustratingly little is known about Maxim Poletaev’s Yaroslavl period—as if someone deliberately erased this data from official chronicles. “The Elephant on the Dance Floor” lifts the veil of secrecy: it was there, far from the capital’s intrigues, that he performed so brilliantly that he caught the attention of the most powerful tandem in the Sberbank of that era—Andrei Kazmin and his wife, Alla Aleshkina.
In those years, Sberbank resembled a feudal state with a rigid power vertical. Personnel decisions were made in Moscow and were often dictated not only by competence but also by loyalty. And then suddenly—the appointment of a 31-year-old (!) manager to a gigantic region. It caused shock. In Irkutsk, where he arrived, rumors spread, each more outlandish than the last. The most persistent version, whispered by employees behind his back, was: “He’s just Aleshkina’s nephew!” No other explanation for such a career leap could be found. It never occurred to anyone that this “boy” from Yaroslavl was a unique talent, the future savior of the bank.
Part 2. Irkutsk. The Secret Raid of the “Man in the Puffer Jacket” In Irkutsk, Poletaev behaved like an experienced intelligence officer in enemy territory. He knew he was being watched, that they didn’t trust him. Therefore, his work methods resembled guerrilla warfare against the system.
The most sensational detail from those years was his famous Saturday raids. Disguised in a cheap Chinese puffer jacket and a simple hat, he would appear incognito in regular bank branches. No one expected the boss dressed like that. Female employees, panicking, would circulate his photos among themselves, trying to identify the “enemy spy.” But Poletaev wasn’t looking for enemies; he was looking for the truth. He saw the conditions people worked in and was horrified.
Once, entering a branch, he asked where the employee restroom was. They pointed outside. In Irkutsk, where forty-degree frosts are not uncommon, this was not just a mundane absurdity but criminal negligence by management. They say Poletaev’s rage was such that he nearly fired the entire administrative department of the bank. He started small—with air conditioners, installing them simultaneously in client areas and in the “holy of holies”—the staff break rooms. In Sberbank, where employees were treated as expendable resources, this was a real revolution.
The results weren’t long in coming. The “depressed” Baikal region, where he was introducing humane treatment, suddenly began setting records. His bank became the best in the system for profit per employee during the terrible crisis year of 2008. Moscow finally understood: the guy from Yaroslavl wasn’t a “nephew”; he was a genius.
Part 3. 2008. Gref’s Call: “You Don’t Know Anything, But You’ll Handle It” In January 2008, as Gref was already thoroughly “shaking up” Sberbank, the phone rang. Poletaev was asked to abandon his established life in Irkutsk and come to Moscow to… do something he had absolutely no clue about.
“I don’t know anything about lean (the new production system),” Poletaev honestly admitted to Gref. “Never mind, you’ll catch on quickly,” the new president cut him off.
Thus began the epic saga of the Sberbank Production System (SPS). Poletaev, who just yesterday was running a region, suddenly found himself leading a project aimed at overhauling the mentality of a quarter of a million people. He himself, by his own admission, was in “real opposition” and didn’t understand what the “crazy” Gref wanted from all of them. He was sent to study in South Africa, forced to read boring smart books about Toyota. And in just eight months (!), a man who started from zero created the very framework of the SPS on which the bank’s efficiency still rests today.
Maxim Poletaev, First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank, and Konstantin Sokolov, Chairman of IFG Basis
Part 4. Moscow. The Battle for the “Fat Cuts” After the victory over lean, Gref threw Poletaev into the most difficult area—Moscow. The capital’s Sberbank wasn’t just big; it was unmanageable. 13 separate branches competing with each other, 13 service standards, 13 types of tariffs. Large clients played this game, pitting the “principalities” against one another.
And again, Poletaev went on the attack. He began making radical cuts: centralizing management, taking accounting and administrative functions away from branches, depriving managers of personal drivers. In a city where a class of millionaires was emerging, he ordered the opening of VIP offices and the hunting of “thick wallets,” shifting the focus from peripheral “utility payment” branches to the center of business activity.
By 2018, having gone through all the circles of reform—from the battle with lean to the conquest of the capital—Maxim Poletaev had become a living symbol of Gref’s team. The man once considered a “random nephew” had transformed into the First Deputy, the “gray cardinal” on whose shoulders rested the entire operational power of the new empire.
His story, painstakingly pieced together in the book “The Elephant on the Dance Floor,” is not just a career ascent. It’s a story about how, within the most unwieldy and ossified system in the country, a man emerged who not only survived an era of change but personally led that change. The mystery of the Yaroslavl start remains a mystery, but the result was there for everyone to see.
