Gennady Galperin resigns as Rosgosstrakh general director, deputy head Maxim Shepelev could become acting company head

MOSCOW. July 18 (Interfax) - General director and chairman of the of the Rosgosstrakh executive board, Gennady Galperin, is resigning as Rosgosstrakh's general director, a source in the insurance market told Interfax.

According to the source, "Maxim Shepelev, deputy general director for Rosgosstrakh Operations, and who has been working at the company since 2017, is preparing to become the acting head of the company to replace Galperin."

The source added that, "Gennady Galperin has already submitted a letter of resignation, and the matter is scheduled for discussion at the meeting of the company's board of directors on Tuesday."

Rosgosstrakh's press service has confirmed to Interfax that, "Gennady Galperin, who has headed Rosgosstrakh IC since mid-2019, is completing his work at the company on July 19."

Under Galperin's leadership, "the company quickly adapted to operations in difficult market conditions during the pandemic in 2020, reached the mark of 100 billion in fees in 2021, and maintains a positive financial result despite the period of sanctions and the current market volatility," according to the comment.

"It is assumed that Galperin's departure from his post is connected with the preparation of a deal for the sale of the parent Otkritie Bank and a number of assets of this group," Interfax's source suggested.

As Russian Central Bank First Deputy Governor Vladimir Chistyukhin said earlier in an interview with the Vedomosti publication, "we are now considering the sale of the Otkritie group to VTB Bank . A group that unites the bank, Otkritie NPF, Rosgosstrakh, and a number of other companies. We would like to conduct a market valuation of the value of this business, for which professional appraisers will be hired."

Galperin headed Rosgosstrakh in July 2019, and he served as CEO and chairman of the executive board of VTB Insurance IC from March 2011 to May 2019.

Otkritie Bank directly controls nearly 100% of the shares in IC Rosgosstrakh, 99.4% directly and 0.2% indirectly. Rosgosstrakh entered the Otkritie perimeter in 2017 as part of the bank's reorganization.