Investment banker Riccardo Orcel joins Polymetal board, to serve as chairman

MOSCOW. March 22 (Interfax) - Investment banker Riccardo Orcel has been appointed as an independent nonexecutive director at Polymetal effective March 21 and will serve as board chairman, the Russian gold and silver miner said.

Orcel has almost 30 years of experience in international management and leadership roles in various investment banks. His latest position was Managing Director and Vice Chairman, Head of Global Banking at VTB Capital. Prior to joining VTB Capital, he worked at Merrill Lynch and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as Managing Director.

Orcel has served on the boards of EM Horizon, a VTB Capital SPAC, and retailer M.Video since 2021. He also served on the board of En+ Group in 2011-2018.

Following Orcel's appointment, Polymetal's board will consist of eight members, of which six are independent nonexecutive directors. The board is now fully formed, the company said.

Orcel will serve as board chairman and Yevgeny Konovalenko will take the role of senior independent nonexecutive director, Polymetal said.

Earlier, amid the mass exodus of foreign directors from the boards of Russian and related companies, six independent directors left Polymetal's board. Only Giacomo Baizini remained. Shortly after this, Polymetal appointed Konovalenko, as well as Janat Berdalina, Steven Dashevsky and Paul Ostling to its board, which also includes CEO Vitaly Nesis and the chairman of the miner's largest shareholder ICT Group, Konstantin Yanakov.