Sberbank’s biggest domestic rival is growing fast
The Russian state wants a national banking champion to be proud of and has brought in new management, many from the private sector, to transform Sberbank into a top-notch corporate and retail bank. Its ambitious plans include establishing strong positions in foreign markets.
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| German Gref, the former Russian minister of economics and trade, was given the job at Sberbank with the mission to lead it to its next stage of development |
ANTON KARAMZIN, FORMER chief financial officer of Morgan Stanley in Russia, had not met German Gref when he took the call from a headhunter on December 27 last year. Just two days later, he was preparing to sign a new job contract and shaking hands with the former Russian minister of economics and trade – chief Russian negotiator on World Trade Organization entry, father of the multi-billion dollar Russian stabilization fund, liberal economic reformer and long-term member of president Vladimir Putin’s inner circle until his sudden removal from the cabinet in 2007. Gref had been given the top job at Sberbank, Russia’s biggest bank, with a clear mission to lead to the next stage of development an institution that the previous management team, under outgoing president Andrei Kazmin, had already transformed from a sleepy state savings bank into a decent universal bank.
