A representative of the press service of PJSC VimpelCom

[tanjimajuha20]

On July 12, 2024, VimpelCom (Beeline brand) announced management changes. Co-owner and CEO of the company Alexander Torbakhov will step down from operational management and become chairman of the board of directors, and his place will be taken by Sergey Anokhin, who left the post of financial director of PJSC Rostelecom the day before.

"In the last few singapore whatsapp resource years, the Beeline team has done a lot to improve the quality of the network, key products and services. The foundation has been formed for the possibility of further development and growth both in traditional telecom and in related areas in demand by clients. This will be the focus of my attention and efforts in my new role," the VimpelCom press service quotes Sergey Anokhin as saying.

did not comment to a ComNews correspondent on the details of Sergei Anokhin’s appointment.

On November 24, 2022, a group of Beeline top managers, led by Alexander Torbakhov, signed a deal to buy out 100% of the company's shares from the VEON holding, and in October 2023, this deal was closed, and VEON finally left Russia. Previously, VimpelCom sold all assets in the CIS to the parent structure, in particular, in May 2023 - the business in Kazakhstan.

FG Finam analyst Leonid Delitsyn believes that the appointment of Sergei Anokhin as CEO of PJSC VimpelCom with the transfer of Alexander Torbakhov to the chair of the chairman of the board of directors may mean that VimpelCom is preparing for sale. "Of course, Rostelecom is emerging as a potential buyer, whose requirements for Sergei Anokhin, who was responsible, among other things, for new directions and venture investments, are well known," says Leonid Delitsyn. "Historically, four federal players have emerged on the Russian cellular communications market due to the fact that the state aimed to reduce prices for mobile communications and make them accessible to the entire population. This goal has been achieved, but as a result, the operators have become not very large companies by global standards with significantly limited capabilities. Market consolidation will lead to the strengthening of the remaining players, who will find it easier to adapt to rapid changes in the external environment and implement new generations of communications standards - and perhaps even develop them."

To free bread

The appointment of a financier as the head of a company often, indeed, indicates that it is preparing for sale. But Sergey Anokhin does not look like an emissary of Rostelecom. According to ComNews, from June 1, 2024, Rostelecom sharply reduced the level of salaries of top management. A high-ranking source close to the company clarified that the federal government decided back in April to reduce the salaries of executives in companies with state participation, equating them to salaries in the relevant ministry (in the case of Rostelecom - with the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia). According to this source, on April 1, 2024, Rostelecom announced a new salary grid: the president's salary became eight times lower, the senior vice president's salary cannot exceed 0.9 of the company's top executive's salary, and the salary at the next level of the corporate hierarchy can be no more than 0.7 of the president. All these changes came into force two months later: on June 1.

According to ComNews, not all Rostelecom top managers agreed to the salary reduction. However, only two senior vice presidents of PJSC Rostelecom have left the company publicly: along with Sergei Anokhin, the state-owned company was left by its senior vice president and head of the IT cluster, Kirill Menshov. In mid-May 2024, Kirill Menshov moved to PJSC Sberbank, where he became the head of the Technologies block in the position of senior vice president.

Read also