EXCLUSIVE: Sberbank hires Romaev as head of new debt unit

By Andrei Skvarsky

Russia’s largest lender Sberbank has hired Dmitry Romaev as head of its new debt capital markets unit for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) from Otkritie.

Romaev, who was previously chief financial officer at Otkritie, said the unit had already hired three other bankers to work on large sovereign debt deals within the CIS sphere.

Sberbank was appointed, along with three other western banks, to organise the sale of $2bn Eurobonds by the government of Belarus.

In an interview with EmergingMarkets.me, Romaev said: “The deal is almost ready. but unfortunately the market at the moment is extremely volatile right now.”

Sberbank’s DCM unit is also believed to be involved in other sovereign sales, including that of Albania.

Under the leadership of German Gref, the state lender is expanding aggressively into investment banking and private equity/special opportunities. Scores of bankers are believed to have been hired, according to sources.

Romaev’s career has included stints with Oleg Deripaska’s Basic Element and Russia’s KIT Finance and Petrocommerce banks.

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