Alexander Mechetin stands down as Beluga CEO, lowers stake to 39.38%

MOSCOW. Dec 7 (Interfax) - Alexander Mechetin is standing down as CEO of Beluga Group , one of Russia's biggest producers of alcoholic beverages, the company said in information.

The board of directors relieved Mechetin of his position effective December 7 following Mechetin's own request. It appointed Konstantin Prokhorov as the new CEO of Beluga Group, effective December 8 for a term of five years. Prokhorov is a minority shareholder with 0.11% of shares. He was deputy CEO prior to his new appointment.

Mechetin is the founder of Beluga Group, which used to be known as Synergy. He was its main beneficiary with 58% of shares. Beluga said in a press that Mechetin had decided to leave the executive positions he held in the group and had given up ownership of almost 19% of Beluga Group shares, reducing his stake from 58% to 39.38% and thus ceasing to be a majority shareholder. The new owner of a stake equivalent to that divested by Mechetin is the group's JSC Sinergy Capital, according to company information.

Mechetin had headed Beluga Group for more than 20 years. "His leadership saw the group grow from a local vodka producer to a major player in the industry, featuring a wide portfolio of brands in all alcoholic beverage segments. On top of that, Alexander built a unique team of experts, with most of the senior managers having been with the company since its founding," Beluga said in the press release.

Konstantin Prokhorov is a member of the board of directors and director general of the Beluga Group's WineLab retail chain. The board of the team led by Prokhorov will "further strengthen the group's market positions and foster the company's growth in the Russian market," Beluga said. Prokhorov has been with the company for over 20 years, 15 of them being in senior positions.

Beluga Group boosted sales revenue 32.2% year-on-year in January-September 2022 to 66.3 billion rubles. Alcohol Segment revenue including inter-segment revenue rose 25% year-on-year to 41.484 billion rubles. Retail Segment revenue grew 55% to 34.892 billion rubles.

Sales volume rose 86% in 9M 2022 to 11.4 billion decaliters and the number of stores 57% to 1,256.