Former Central Bank employee Alexander Zhdanov appointed head of Deposit Insurance Agency

MOSCOW. Jan 13 (Interfax) - Alexander Zhdanov, who previously served as director of the Financial Recovery Department of the Central Bank of Russia, was appointed head of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA) on January 13.

The DIA's board of directors decided to dismiss Andrei Melnikov as head of the DIA at the end of December.

In October of last year, Moscow's Lefortovo Court authorized Melnikov's arrest on fraud charges. He was remanded in custody for two months. Melnikov is part of a criminal case against former DIA deputy heads Alexander Popelyukh and Olga Dolgoleva related to fraud involving the property of the Novosibirsk Akvamir water park, which was placed under DIA bankruptcy management. The case concerns the theft of over 4 billion rubles from the company that owned Akvamir in Novosibirsk. Popelyukh testified against Melnikov.

Zhdanov had held various positions at the Central Bank since 2000, and had headed the bank's financial recovery department since June 2017.

Pavel Nikolaichik, who works at the Central Bank, has been appointed acting director of the financial recovery department, according to information on the bank's website.