Russia's Lemana PRO replaces CEO

MOSCOW. Sept 23 (Interfax) - Denis Isayev became the head of Le Monlid LLC (the Lemana PRO brand, formerly Leroy Merlin) on September 22, according to company information in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

He replaced Laurent Defassieu as CEO, who had headed the company since 2021.

Previously, the Unified State Register disclosed information that Isayev owns 64.5% of Gaztransbank Commercial Bank LLC (as of 2017), as well as 50% of E1-Capital LLC (as of 2023); both companies are registered in Krasnodar. It was previously reported that Isayev was also chairman of the board of directors of Gaztransbank.

On September 17, a decree was published according to which the Russian assets of a whole series of large companies in various industries were transferred to the previously little-known company JSC L.E.V. Management, whose owners are not disclosed. Along with the Russian assets of Auchan, this concerns Lemana PRO and the Russian assets of Nestle, FM Logistics and Bati Logistics.

On September 21, Lemana PRO announced that the retailer's temporary manager is interested in preserving the asset as a single retail network as well as its current management system and the uninterrupted operation of stores and distribution centers.

"The company's stable operation is directly linked to the supply of the population and the construction industry with goods for home and repair, the letter said. The temporary manager also intends to preserve the current management system in the company; there are no plans to change the current top management," Lemana PRO said.

In turn, Auchan LLC is now headed by Ilya Berdnikov, who previously worked at X5 and the Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimushchestvo). He replaces Asya Balabai in the position (who took the post of executive director of the company), Kommersant reported the previous day.