Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has extended a seven-year unsecured loan of 26m euros to HMS Group, a Moscow-based manufacturer of pumps, compressors and oil and gas equipment. The fixed-rate loan, which comes with a three-year grace period, has been structured by Sberbank-CIB, a division that was part of Troika Dialog before the Moscow brokerage was… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Russia
JP Morgan Private Bank expands Russian focused team
JP Morgan Private Bank has hired Darius Daubaras and Anatoly Crachilov as executive directors to its Russian team and to be based in London. Daubaras joins from BNP Paribas and has previously held roles at Citi Group, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch. Crachilov joins from HSBC Private Bank having previously worked at Russian Troika Dialog Continue Reading
RenCap puts Alexander Merzlenko in charge of Russia business
Renaissance Capital has appointed Alexander Merzlenko as its president for Russia, adding his new role to his current jobs as head of Russian investment banking and deputy chief executive of the Moscow-headquartered investment bank. Merzlenko’s promotion is the next high-level personnel move at the emerging markets-focused firm after its takeover by billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim… Continue Reading
Almaz Capital Partners invests in Russian Square clone 2can
Russian Square copycat 2can has secured $400,000 in funding from a new investor, Almaz Capital Partners. Mobile card acquiring service 2can was officially launched in Russia in September 2012, but founded a year earlier, in November 2011. It offers customers the chance to transform their smartphones running iOS or Android into mobile POS terminals with… Continue Reading
UFG Private Equity appoints Arthur Akopyan as Partner
Arthur Akopyan joins UFG Private Equity from NGI venture capital fund. He brings 15 years of operational and corporate finance experience in telecoms, media and IT services. Prior to UFG Private Equity, from 2008 he performed restructuring work for several Russian financial holdings with a main focus on telecommunications and IT. During this time Arthur… Continue Reading
Sberbank takes majority stake in Yandex.Money
Russia’s Sberbank is to spend $60 million for a majority stake in Yandex.Money, the online payment business of Russian search engine Yandex. The companies are to form a joint venture through the acquisition by Sberbank of a 75% (minus one share) interest in Yandex.Money, with Yandex retaining a blocking interest in the JV with 25%.… Continue Reading
Otkritie announces changes to its Board of Directors
Otkritie Financial Corporation today announces the election of new members to its Board of Directors. Vadim Belyaev has been appointed Chairman of the Board and Boris Mints, who previously held the position, will remain the President of Otkritie Financial Corporation. Ruben Aganbegyan, CEO of Otkritie Financial Corporation, and Johannes Boerner, Deputy CEO, will form the… Continue Reading
EBRD nearly doubles syndicated loan raised for Russian Rosbank
A syndicated loan raised by the EBRD for Rosbank, a Russian private bank controlled by France’s Societe Generale group, has been heavily oversubscribed and the total loan amount nearly doubled to USD 290 million due to strong interest from commercial banks. A total of 11 international banks are participating in the USD 230 million syndication… Continue Reading
BAML hires RenCap ex-boss to run Russian business
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has hired Alexander Pertsovsky, a former chief executive of Renaissance Capital, to head its Russian operation. Pertsovsky, who takes up the reins at BAML in February, will also join the American bank’s executive committee for Europe and the emerging markets, excluding Asia, according to Reuters. BAML, which has not yet… Continue Reading
NOMOS-BANK makes new senior appointments
New senior appointments have been made in the management team of NOMOS-BANK. Yelena Budnik is appointed Senior Vice President of NOMOS-BANK. In this role, Yelena will lead the Bank’s retail business. Alexey Karahan is appointed Senior Vice President in charge of both Strategic Communications and HR departments. Dmitry Romaev is appointed Advisor to the President of NOMOS-BANK. He will be responsible for the coordination of NOMOS-BANK integration into the structure… Continue Reading
Elbrus Capital buys out stake in Russian Delivery Co SPSR-Express
Elbrus Capital, Russian venture capital firm, has bought out Svarog Capital Advisors‘ stake in Russian express delivery company SPSR-Express. Svarog’s investment vehicle in the holding was the Russian Retail Growth Fund, which has exited partially from the delivery company as a stakeholder. Elbrus managing partner Dmitri Krukov led the transaction for the buyer, while Svarog was… Continue Reading
Mail.ru early investor adds $75 Mln to IMI.VC
IMI.VC, the investment company founded by Igor Matsanyuk, has bagged USD 75 mln from one of the early investors in Mail.ru – Mikhail Vinchel. Along with Gregory Finger, another Mail.ru investor in the early stage, the three form the board of directors for IMI.VC. Social gaming player Game Insight and Farminers (mobile incubator) are products of the… Continue Reading
Softline Goes Mobile with Apps4All Russia
Softline Venture Partners have made their first investment in the mobile applications sector with a USD 500,000 equity purchase in Apps4All, a Russian platform where mobile app developers can participate in training, events, research and other activities along with their peers in the industry. In 2011, Softline made investments in the range of USD 100,000 to USD… Continue Reading
Grishin Robotics Invests $250,000 Into the RobotAppStore
Grishin Robotics, the personal robotics fund kickstarted by Mail.Ru Group co-founder and CEO Dmitry Grishin, has pumped $250,000 into RobotAppStore, an open, online marketplace for robotics applications. The investment firm had earlier backed Y Combinator graduate Double Robotics with the exact same amount. In both cases, detailed terms of the deal were not disclosed. RobotAppStore… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT FROM CHRIS WEAFER: Russia in context – an expected journey
By Chris Weafer, Chief Strategist, Sberbank Investment Research. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit US budget worries have balanced out macro optimism. Markets have been in something of a zero-sum game in recent weeks as the lingering concern over… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT: Fixed income – 2013 preview: nothing is (im)possible
By Alexander Kudrin, Head of Fixed Income Research, Managing Director, Sberbank Investment Reseach. The performance of most bonds at end 2012 promises to be impressive. Liquidity njections by leading central banks, the main tool against the financial crisis, have sent interest rates in developed markets down to almost zero. Moreover, the key guide for such… Continue Reading
Fastlane Ventures booster of startups gets Kazakh tycoon Rakishev on board
By Andrei Skvarsky. Fastlane Ventures, a Moscow-based venture capital firm specialising in support for startup Web businesses, has given a seat on its board to Kenges Rakishev, a Kazakh tycoon and high-profile international technology industry investor. Fastlane received a $13m investment from Rakishev, according to a statement from the company, which takes about 50 days… Continue Reading
VTB Capital issues Micex index-linked ruble bonds
Moscow-based VTB Capital has issued ruble bonds to a total of one billion rubles ($32m) linked to the Micex index. International rating agency Moody’s has assigned a rating of Baa1 to the bonds, which have a tenor of a little more than a year and have been put on sale at Moscow’s Micex stock exchange.… Continue Reading
SBERBANK COMMENT: Muddling through with modernization
By Evgeny Gavrilenkov, Chief Economist, Managing Director, Sberbank CIB. Economic growth slows. GDP rose 2.9% y_o_y in 3Q12. Formally, GDP growth slowed from 4.5% over 1H12, but this was due mainly to a 5.6% drop in agricultural output in 3Q12, versus an increase of 29.7% in 3Q11. Although growth decelerated in other sectors, such as… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires Credit Suisse banker to look after UHNWIs
Sberbank has announced it has hired Vasiliy Sofiyskiy from Credit Suisse to head the ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) unit in the newly set-up private banking arm of Russia’s biggest lender. Sofiysky’s arrival at Sberbank Private Banking and other recent senior hires by Sberbank are part of a major buildout of business launched by the lender in 2011… Continue Reading
RenCap appoints John Hyman, Igor Vayn as co-CEOs
Renaissance Capital has divided the job of chief executive officer between two bankers by promoting John Hyman, who joined the Russian investment bank last year, and hiring Igor Vayn from Otkritie. Hyman was also appointed as chairman of the Moscow-based company, according to a statement from the firm. Hyman was interim chief executive after Stephen… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires manager from UBS to help get private banking off the ground
Sberbank Private Banking, a newly set-up division of Russia’s Sberbank, has given a senior managerial role to Anna Tokaeva from Swiss bank UBS, where she has held top positions in wealth and asset management. Tokaeva spent 12 years with UBS, being posted in Chicago and Moscow, before coming over to help develop what is a new… Continue Reading
VTB pulls off $107.1m securitisation deal with Investtradebank
VTB Capital has pulled off a 3.3bn-ruble ($107.1m) deal to securitise a mortgage portfolio for Investtradebank, a Moscow-based lender also known as Investtorgbank. The senior tranche of the mortgage securities, placed on Moscow stock exchange Micex by open tender, is expected to raise about 2.4bn rubles ($77.8m) for Investtradebank, according to a statement from the… Continue Reading
Elbrus Capital Has Invested in SPSR-Express
Russia and CIS-focused private equity firm Elbrus Capital has invested in Russian express delivery service SPSR-Express. As part of the transaction, Elbrus will acquire a portion of the stake currently held by the Russian Retail Growth Fund, which is managed by Russian private equity firm Svarog Capital Advisors. The transaction marks Elbrus’s first investment from… Continue Reading
RenCap: Africa a great place to invest
By Andrei Skvarsky. A Renaissance Capital team of analysts have brought out a book making a passionate case for investment in Africa, crediting the continent’s economy with developing by leaps and bounds. “The economies of most African nations have transformed beyond recognition, and are set to surpass the growth seen in Asia and India over… Continue Reading
Sberbank hires head of equities portfolio management
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Sberbank Asset Management has hired Roman Filatov, a banker with nearly 20 years’ experience, as head of equities portfolio management. Filatov held senior roles at Russia’s Renaissance Investment Management in 2008-2009 and at Templeton Asset Management for 11 years before that. He arrives at Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, from IXIA Asset… Continue Reading
Ukraine agribusiness co-owned by RenCap hires CFO
By Andrei Skvarsky. Ukrainian Agrarian Investments (UAI), a major Ukrainian farming business co-founded and co-owned by Russia’s Renaissance Capital, has hired Alexandre Joseph from French agricultural company AgroGeneration as chief financial officer. A statement from RenCap, which is currently selling out to billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group. credits Joseph, who will be based in Kyiv, with… Continue Reading
Magnitsky case defendant’s life in danger, witness says
By Andrei Skvarsky. A Moscow court has been told there is a conspiracy to murder Dmitry Kratov, the only defendant in the Magnitsky case, said British investment fund Hermitage Capital. Olga Grigorieva, a former head of the medical service for Moscow’s prisons, told the Tverskoi Court that a former prison official had warned her in… Continue Reading
Russia sets up central securities depository
By Andrei Skvarsky. The National Settlement Depository, part of Moscow’s Micex-RTS stock exchange, has been granted the status of Russia’s central securities depository (CSD). “Foreign central depositories will now be able to open nominee accounts with Russia’s CSD,” Micex-RTS said in a statement. Russian state and corporate bonds will have links to international central securities… Continue Reading