General Director on demand – Newspaper Kommersant No. 195 (7396) dated 10/20/2022
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According to Kommersant, the government has been discussing the possibility of changing the general director of Russian Post Maxim Akimov for about a month and a half. Among the contenders for his post, Kommersant’s sources primarily name the former top manager of VTB and the Russian Post itself, Mikhail Volkov, but there are other candidates. Kommersant’s sources explain the need for reshuffles, among other things, by the company’s poor financial performance.
Former Deputy Prime Minister Maxim Akimov, who now heads the Russian Post, may leave this post, a source familiar with the situation in the company told Kommersant. According to him, the corresponding decision can be made in the coming weeks. He calls the head of the National Lottery (Sports Lotteries LLC, 48.5% from VTB, the co-owner of Post-Bank, the remaining share from the president of the International Boxing Federation Umar Kremlev), Mikhail Volkov, a key candidate for the post of Russian Post CEO.
The fact that the government is discussing the change of the head of the Russian Post was also heard by Kommersant’s interlocutors in e-commerce, in the telecommunications market and in the banking sector. One of them also calls Mr. Volkov the main contender for the post. A Kommersant source close to the government clarified that personnel reshuffles “were really discussed one and a half to two months ago,” although he knows nothing about their current status, and besides Mikhail Volkov, “there are other candidates.” Another government interlocutor says the decision to replace the head of the Russian Post is “in the final stages,” confirming Volkov’s appointment plans.
After leaving the company, Maxim Akimov “will not work in its circuit,” notes one of the officials. According to him, “a combination of factors influenced the decision, including poor financial performance of the company.” However, the interlocutor of Kommersant on the market believes that Mr. Akimov can move to the Russian Post JV and VTB National Logistics Technologies, created in 2018 to serve e-commerce.
In the Russian Post, Kommersant was told that “no preparations are being made for the change of the general director.”
“We are actively working on products, improving the efficiency of our network, updating the strategy,” the company added. Representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development and Mr. Akimov did not respond to Kommersant’s requests.
Maxim Akimov was appointed CEO of Russian Post in early 2020, replacing Nikolai Podguzov (see “Kommersant” dated February 4, 2020). Prior to that, since 2018, in the rank of Deputy Prime Minister, he oversaw communications, transport and the Digital Economy national program in the government of Dmitry Medvedev.
Mikhail Volkov – A native of the banking industry. From 2000 to 2010, he held senior positions at Alfa-Bank, from 2012 to 2015 he was Senior Vice President of VTB, from 2015 to 2016 he was a member of the Management Board of the Bank of Moscow, from 2016 to 2017 he was Senior Vice President of VTB. But he already has experience in Russian Post: since 2017, Mr. Volkov has been the company’s deputy general director for operational management and retail trade.
In 2021, Mr. Volkov was appointed CEO of Sports Lotteries LLC, which distributes the so-called National Lottery organized by the Ministry of Finance “in support of the development of boxing and high-performance sports.” As “Kommersant” said On September 13, from September 1, Russian Post broke off relations with the competitor of the National Lottery, the largest distributor of Stoloto lotteries (the company’s tickets were no longer sold in branches). Kommersant’s interlocutors claimed that it was Mikhail Volkov who primarily influenced the change of partner. Judging by the words of Kommersant’s sources, then the change of the head of the Russian Post was already being discussed.
A Kommersant source in the government clarifies that the choice of Mr. Volkov’s candidacy was due to “proximity to VTB” and experience in the operational management of Russian Post: “Increasing financial performance is the main challenge facing the company now.”
In the first half of the year, the total loss of Russian Post increased six times year on year, to 19.5 billion rubles. Despite this, the company’s sales revenue for the same period increased slightly: from 104.1 billion to 107 billion rubles. The largest loss of the company was brought by investments in joint ventures, it amounted to 3 billion rubles. compared to 191 million rubles. in 2021.
The Russian Post explained the results by business seasonality, increased costs and unstable currency conditions (see “Kommersant” dated August 29).
According to Kommersant’s interlocutor in the IT market, they have been talking about changing the CEO of Russian Post “almost from the moment Maxim Akimov came to this position, but the process took longer than expected.” “Part of the team realized that the company’s management was temporary, and therefore worked inefficiently,” the source of Kommersant believes. “This became noticeable to partners working with the company in the direction of IT and information security.”
When Maxim Akimov, who oversaw the entire digital agenda in the country, headed the Russian Post, there were expectations of its significant transformation, Artur Shamilov, head of the board of directors of the TopContact agency, notes: “Under his leadership, a management reform was carried out in the Russian Post, digital and operational transformation, a new stage of network reform and development of the e-commerce platform has begun, but these initiatives have not yet reached their logical conclusion.” But Mikhail Volkov, Artur Shamilov noted, “possesses diverse experience”, including successfully launching a federal digital project in the field of the lottery: “His expertise is suitable to support the initiatives necessary for the further transformation and development of the company.”
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