According to Russian business daily Vedomosti, the CEO of Investsberbank, OTP Bank's recently acquired Russian unit, has unexpectedly announced his resignation, as of end of February, due to unsatisfactory conditions and compensation under the bank's new owners. According to earlier statements of Sándor Csányi, OTP CEO, Pavel Bojko was to have stayed with the bank along with many of its other Russian managers, following the purchase announcement in July 2006. The daily has reported that one of the deputy-CEOs, Konstantin Bogomasov, has also resigned. OTP Bank has recently delegated two new Hungarian members to Investsberbank's management board, Inabat Török (risk management) and János Lipcsei (finance).According to the article the new CEO will be Inabat Török.
Our view: We see the news as negative for OTP Bank, as an experienced Russian CEO with knowledge of the market is unquestionably a valuable asset. However, as the news was out on Friday during the session, we do not expect it to have a significant trading impact today.