Translated material
Binbank is not for sale
Mikhail Shishkhanov appointed a new head of his credit organization
Binbank will be headed by Grigory Guselnikov, who for a long time was the first deputy chairman of the board of the credit organization and left it only two weeks ago. The former head of the bank, Vartan Dilanyan, resigned. Personnel changes at B&N Bank are related to the termination of the deal to sell it to Senator Vadim Moshkovich . Mikhail Shishkhanov remains the owner of the bank, and he initiated changes in the management of the financial institution. Market participants note that the return of the previous owner will benefit the bank.Until the Central Bank approves the candidacy of Mr. Guselnikov, acting. Senior Vice President Sergei Gorashchenko will become the Chairman of the Board of B&N Bank. Grigory Guselnikov, who worked at the bank for seven years, was considered the right hand of the president and main owner of the credit institution, Mikhail Shishkhanov. Therefore, when the sale of the bank was announced in November last year, market participants considered Mr. Guselnikov’s departure a done deal. He left B&N Bank on April 21 of this year. As you know, Mr. Guselnikov is a co-owner of the First Insurance Company and Vyatka Bank, in both structures he holds the position of chairman of the board of directors. Therefore, it was expected that, after leaving B&N Bank, he would focus his efforts on developing these businesses.
As Mr. Shishkhanov told Vremya Novostei, he made the decision to terminate the deal in late April. Thus, Mr. Guselnikov, leaving the bank, may not have known about this.
The bank's official press release states that the agreement was terminated due to the fact that Mr. Shishkhanov was not satisfied with the price of the transaction. Market participants, however, recall that the idea to sell Binbank last year appeared due to the fact that then a criminal case was opened against the head and owner of RussNeft, Mikhail Gutseriev, who is Mikhail Shishkhanov’s uncle. According to bankers, Mr. Shishkhanov may have feared that his business could suffer. “Apparently, the risks that seemed very serious six months ago have now become less relevant,” believes Mikhail Matovnikov, general director of Interfax-CEA. It is possible that Mr. Moshkovich himself refused the deal, considering that the pressure on Mr. Gutseriev was increasing.
Having left the bank for himself, Mr. Shishkhanov will no longer be involved in operational management, but will head the board of directors, the former chairman of which Sergei Egorov will be the first deputy. “By and large, I moved away from 100 percent operational management quite a long time ago,” says Mr. Shishkhanov. — Some powers were delegated to my deputies, primarily to the first deputy Grigory Guselnikov. Now I am even more convinced that the functions of the owner and manager in a large business structure must be separated. As the owner, I will deal with issues of strategy and positioning of the bank in international and regional markets.”
Vartan Dilanyan, who represented the interests of Mr. Moshkovich at B&N Bank, has already said goodbye to the team. He officially assumed the position of chairman of the board only in March of this year, but in fact he has been leading the credit organization since the end of 2007. During this time, the bank's policy did not undergo significant changes. In addition, for Mr. Dilanyan, who has worked in auditing companies for many years, the banking business is a new field of activity. Therefore, market participants, not without reason, believe that he spent these few months studying the situation in the bank.
Obviously, with the return of the owner, the bank's policy will not change significantly. However, Mr. Shishkhanov says: “Having retired, I was able to look at the bank from the outside with an unbiased eye. Therefore, there will be some changes, perhaps strengthening of some areas.” He did not talk in more detail about his plans.
According to market participants, the cancellation of the transaction is rather a positive decision for the bank. “Under Mikhail Shishkhanov, it was clear how the bank was developing,” continues Mr. Matovnikov. -- The return of the old team, which has proven itself well in the market, indicates that B&N Bank will begin to develop within the framework of the long-declared strategy. It was not entirely clear how the new owner planned to develop the business.”
B&N Bank currently does not have ruble or foreign currency bonds placed, its shares are not traded, and therefore it is unclear how the investment community perceived this news. The bank is rated by two agencies - S&P and Fitch Ratings, which do not yet intend to change their ratings.