Private Equity Russia

Stanislav Song and Hamid Gayibov, both of JP Morgan in Moscow have reportedly moved to Xenon Capital Partners, an M&A boutique set up last year to advise the Russian state on acquisition of domestic and foreign energy assets.

Song and Gayibov join Natalia Tsukanova, Kamil Burganov and Anton Voronin, who are all also former JP Morgan bankers.

Xenon reportedly has a mandate as investment manager for “the largest state-owned energy fund, and a range of M&A mandates for state-owned corporates in the energy sector.”

Source: Emergingmarkets.me

VTB Capital has named Alexey Zabotkin as its new head of investment strategy.

Zabotkin will be transferring to the group from VTB Asset Management, where he had served as Chief Investment Officer and deputy CEO since September 2009.

Previously, he was CIO with United Capital Partners, a Russian private asset management company and in research at UFG.

[Via emergingmarkets.me]

Baring Vostok Capital Partners (BVCP) has been voted “Russian Private Equity Firm of the Year” by the readers of Private Equity International and Private Equity Online.  This is the fifth year in a row that the firm has won the award.

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VTB Asset Management is putting its venture capital and private equity management team back together following last months management shake up. Aidar Kaliyev has been named Head of the Department of Direct and Venture Investments at VTB Asset Management.

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Unova has reported that the three VTB managing directors responsible for the bank’s venture capital activities have left the bank.

According to VTB Director of Asset Management Natalia Plugar, the three managers – Andrei Zyuzin, Sergei Morozov and Andrei Romashov, left the bank for reasons of their own career development and work on external projects.

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Senior Partner of Russian private equity group Baring Vostok Capital Partners, Elena Ivashentseva, reportedly told attendees at The Russia Forum earlier this month that she doesn’t believe in the potential for venture capital investments in Russia’s technology sector on account of the poor state of education in the country.  She also reportedly said that there aren’t enough qualified managers capable of guiding businesses through their start-up phase.

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Sberbank Capital is looking to hire 30 bankers as part of its plan to develop a fully fledged private equity group and investment banking unit.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank Capital was created in 2008 to hold selected distressed assets of creditors seized by the state-owned savings giant.  The division now conrols a $4 billion distressed asset portfolio, primarily in the metallurgical and energy industries and real estate.  Another $3 billion in projects are currently in the pipeline and being discussed with Sberbank.

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Societe Generale has named Rafael Nagapetiants, 48, as head of the mergers and acquisitions in Russia.  The group will concentrate on both private equity and listed transactions in the Russian Federation.

Nagapetiants was previously head of corporate finance at Alfa Bank.  Before Alfa, Nagapetiants was SUN Group’s director from 2001 to 2005 and Inkombank’s vice president from 1994 to 2000.  From 1984 to 1994 Nagapetiants worked for Russia’s Ministry of Finance and later at the committee for foreign investment as a deputy chairman.

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