Transfer of Rolf to federal management will not affect operations - company representative

MOSCOW. Dec 22 (Interfax) - The transfer of the assets of the Rolf dealership holding to the temporary management of Russia's Federal Property Management Agency (Rosimuschestvo) will not affect the group's operations, a Rolf representative told Interfax.

"These changes will not in any way affect the operations of the organization. JSC Rolf retains all its obligations to employees, clients, and partners. Rosimuschestvo, as the temporary manager of the Rolf shares, intends to develop the organization, improve its financial performance, and honor its obligations to employees," the company said.

The company also said that as of December 22, Alexey Gulyaev was appointed the new general director of JSC Rolf. Since the beginning of the 2000s, Gulyaev worked in the Rolf structure, later holding senior positions in AvtoSpetsCenter and Avilon, where in 2022-2023 he was deputy general director for service.

Svetlana Vinogradova, who until Friday was CEO at Rolf, has been appointed Gulyaev's first deputy. As noted in the group, the operational management of Rolf will continue to remain under her leadership. "The management team of JSC Rolf will continue to effectively manage the company," the company said.

President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree to place the assets of Rolf Group, one of Russia's largest car dealers, under the temporary management of the Federal Property Agency.

"This is due solely to economic feasibility, compliance with the relevant legislation of the Russian Federation and taking into account the known international economic situation," presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters, commenting on the decree from the head of state.

At the same time, Peskov's was asked about the fact that the company is Russian. "No, there are also various offshore holdings, and so on. It is a Russian company, but, as you understand, there are various ownership structures that required intervention," the presidential press secretary said.

There are nearly 660.7 million ordinary shares of Rolf owned by Delance Limited, and 15,198 ordinary shares of Rolf owned by Rolf Motors; 99% of Rolf Motors LLC belongs to Rolf JSC, and 1% to the Rolf Motors company, which is owned by the joint stock company Delance Limited, the document says.

In addition, 99% of Rolf Estate St. Petersburg LLC, owned by Rolf, and 1% belonging to Delance Limited, were transferred under temporary management. A similar decision was made regarding 100% of Rolf Tech, which belongs to Rolf.

Until now, under the mechanism introduced by the presidential decree of April 25, 2023, external management was introduced only for companies whose ultimate owners are international concerns, such as Carlsberg, Fortum, Uniper, Danone, and Amedia.