Actuality December, 18, 2007

Igor Zavyalov, former deputy chairman of VTB board, will supervise the financial activity of the currently formed Rostecnology public corporation which assets are estimated at $25 bln. As it became known, Sergey Chemezov, public corporation head, offered Rostecnology supervisory board to approve the candidacy of his personal friend for the post of Deputy General Director of the corporation.

Igor Zavyalov resigned the post of deputy chairman of VTB board in the middle of October, and since then he was designated for manager of several public corporations at once, including Sberbank (the Savings Bank). And now the intrigue with the new position of the powerful banker is resolved, supervising a corporate block in VTB. As the source in Rostecnology supervisory board reported (created on the basis of Rosoboronexport Federal State Unitary Enterprise and its assets), the candidacy of Igor Zavyalov was introduced to the board for the post of  deputy director of public corporation.
Igor Zavyalov was born in 1960, in 1986 graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute, in 1986-1996 worked in Engineering Research Institute. He started the banker career in Incombank in 1996 where worked two years. In 1998 – deputy chairman of the National Reserve Bank board, 1999-2002 – deputy chairman of Vnesheconombank, in 2002-2007 – deputy chairman of VTB Bank, where supervised the corporate block. Retired from VTB in the middle of October during the corporate block reform.

In Rosoboronexport they refused to specify the remit of Igor Zavyalov in Rostecnology, however the source in the board asserts that under the area of his responsibility fall all financial matters of public corporation activity, including treasury work, and also investment policy and efficiency estimation of new acquisitions of the Group. Moreover, Igor Zavyalov will still supervise the activity of JSC RusSpetsStal and he is the chairman of its board of directors. “Under his guidance the company prepares passing to the international reporting and plans to publish it from 2009”. According to his opinion, at the suggestion of Mr Zavyalov will be taken strategic decisions on leading of the group enterprises for IPO.

We will remind that this summer Sergey Chemezov declared that up to 2012 “all companies included in Rosoboronexport will enter IPO”. Three among them – VSMPO-AVISMA, AvtoVAZ and Oboronprom – will already hold the initial public offering in 2009.

Rostecnology is the personal project of Sergey Chemezov, former colleague of the Russian president Vladimir Putin in foreign intelligence service of KGB of the USSR. Rostecnology setup will pass in two stages. At first Rosoboronexport Federal State Unitary Enterprise will be reorganized in OJSC (the corresponding decree of the president was issued at the end of November, 2007), and then will join a public corporation along with other its subsidiary companies, including VSMPO-AVISMA, AvtoVAZ, JSC RusSpetsStal, Oboronprom. Currently, Rosoboronexport assets and subsidiaries’ structures are estimated at $25 bln, about $5,5 bln more passes annually through its accounts as export contracts, the orders portfolio totals over $23 bln.

Rostecnology public corporation is out of direct control of the RF government, its head is appointed by the president personally – at the end of November Sergey Chemezov took the Chair. The former deputy Anatoly Isaykin was appointed to his post in Rosoboronexport, who by the law will also occupy the post of Rostecnology deputy director. As sources in Rosoboronexport assert, Mr Chemezov will have five deputies altogether.

Experts consider Igor Zavyalov the valuable acquisition for Rostecnology. “A very reasonable staff decision. The large public corporation that will be n-fold larger than Rosoboronexport requires a financial expert of the proper level. Igor Zavyalov is not only a banker of large scale but also perfectly knows the specific character of Rosoboronexport activity that was Vnesheconombank and VTB client for many years”, says Dmitry Titov, the chairman of board of the Russian Regional Development Bank.

Maksim Pyadushkin, editor of “Russia/CIS Observer” aerospace edition, explains the choice of Sergey Chemezov by the change of specific character of Rosoboronexport activity. “One of the reasons of public corporation setup Sergey Chemezov named that Rosoboronexport Federal State Unitary Enterprise is limited in the activity on financial markets, in particular, on the loan market. But it is necessary for the normal development of companies’ group, into which changed Rosoboronexport, as well as a professional who will be engaged in this is needed”.