Donau Bank

Summary

Donau Bank AG was a bank in Vienna, Austria controlled by the Soviet Union and later, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, by Russia.

On 30 May 2001, Donau Bank was acquired by Russian VTB Bank, which was headed by Yury Ponomarev.[1] In 2006 the name was changed to VTB Bank (Austria) AG. With $1 billion in capital in March 2011, VTB Bank (Austria) AG, based in Vienna, was the largest European commercial bank of the Russian VTB Bank.[2] On December 29, 2017, VTB Group completed restructuring its European operations.[3] VTB Bank (Austria) AG, VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG und VTB Bank (France) SA, were merged into the newly created VTB Bank (Europe) SE (Frankfurt), which operates under a single banking license. Since that restructuring, VTB Bank (Europe) SE has the branch in Austria.

History edit

  • 1974 - Donau Bank AG is jointly founded in Vienna by the USSR State Bank and the USSR Foreign Trade Bank.
  • 1987 to 20 November 1990 - Donau Bank AG is headed by Andrey Akimov.[4][5] From 1989 to 1991, Alexander Ivanovich Medvedev (Russian: Александр Иванович Медведев) was a director at Donau Bank and was the managing director of the Donau Bank's subsidiary "Inter Trade Consult GmbH" (Austria).[6][7] It allegedly serviced very large debts of Bulgaria and, which the Austrian Die Presse wrote at the time, was "adherence to an overly expansive business strategy."[5] In the spring of 1990, Bulgaria declared a moratorium on servicing its external debt.[5]
  • 1990 - SOVLINK-American Corporation (Russian: ИК «Совлинк»), which specialized in the oil industry, closely cooperated with TNK and was owned by CB Alba Alliance LLC (Russian: ООО КБ «Альба Альянс»), was established in New York by the American consulting firm Salomon Brothers, Sedgwick,[b] Phibra Energy, plus the Soviet foreign Donau Bank and the state-owned Russian foreign economic association SovFinTrade (Russian: российским внешнеэкономическим объединением «СовФинТрейд»).[20][21]
  • 1992 - The Central Bank of the Russian Federation acquires 99.97% of the bank, the remaining 0.03% is retained by the Foreign Trade Bank (Vneshtorgbank).
  • 1997 - VTB acquires a 51% majority share in Donau Bank AG.
  • 2005 - VTB acquires 100% interest in Donau Bank AG.
  • 2006 - In the context of VTB’s international rebranding program, Donau Bank AG is renamed VTB Bank (Austria) AG.
  • 2007 - VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG and VTB Bank (France) SA are placed under VTB Bank (Austria) AG and together form a subgroup of the VTB Group.
  • 2011 - Launch of VTB Direct Bank in Germany[22]
  • 2017 - 2018: VTB Bank (Austria) AG, VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG und VTB Bank (France) SA, were merged into the newly created VTB Bank (Europe) SE (Frankfurt), which operates under a single banking license. Since that restructuring, VTB Bank (Europe) SE has the branch in Austria.

Management board edit

Donau Bank AG (VTB Bank (Austria) AG) had the following management board members:

  • Valery P. Ipatoo
  • Oleg M. Preksin
  • Dkfm Otto Dracka
  • Andrei Tchetyrkine
  • Vladimir G. Malinin Chairman of the Board from December 1990 to April 1996[23][24][c]
  • Dr. Valeriy V. Lyakin[25]
  • Dr. Richard Vornberg (CEO)
  • Christian Müllner[2]
  • Evgenij Minkin
  • Igor Strehl (CEO)[26]
  • Alexey Krokhin (CEO)[27]
  • Simeon Nestorov
  • Andrey Girichev (CEO)
  • Andrey Skvortsov
  • Mag. Damir Mehic
  • Mag. Bernhard Schmidt
  • Maria Minaeva
  • Mark Airston
  • Oxana Kozliouk

Notes edit

  1. ^ Urs Dietrich (born 1940, Zürich, Switzerland), graduated in 1967 with a Doctorate of Law from the University of Zurich, was admitted to the bar in 1970 and speaks German, French and English.[10]
  2. ^ Beginning in 1989, Andres Baumgartner (born 1961, Zürich, Switzerland),[citation needed] who fluent in German, French, English and Russian, was a Law Clerk with Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold in San Francisco and Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco.[8][9] Andres Baumgartner, who has a Zürich law office with Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner which was founded in 1983 by Urs Dietrich[a] with partners Andres Baumgartner and Fabio Delcò,[10][11][12] asserts that he makes no secret of his top-level connections in Moscow and provides assistance to very wealthy Russians, "I have relationships with people from the KGB. Right up to Vladimir Putin."[13][14][15][16][17][18] As of April 2016, Baumgartner, who is an American,[citation needed] lives at his villa in Zollikon, Zürich.[13] He has a French wife Anne and three children with her.[13] A close associate of Andres Baumgartner is Fabio Delcò (born 1967), who is an attorney at Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner that graduated in 1992 from University of Zurich (lic.iur.) was admitted to the bar in 1995, received in 1997 his master's from the University of San Diego School of Law (LL.M.), was a Law Clerk in 1997 with DiCaro, Lacey & Nield in San Diego, received in 2000 his doctorate from the University of Zurich (Dr. iur.). Fabio Delcò is fluent in German, Italian, French, Spanish, English and has a basic knowledge of Russian.[13][19]
  3. ^ Malinin, Vladimir Georgievich (Russian: Малинин, Владимир Георгиевич; 29 June 1940 Moscow, Soviet Union - 4 February 2021 Vienna, Austria) graduated from the Financial University in 1963 with a degree in economics. From 1964 to 1968, he was at Vneshtorgbank of the USSR as an inspector, senior economist, senior consultant, head of the foreign exchange and cash operations department, and from 1968 to 1969 he was the Deputy Chief Accountant. From 1969 to 1970, he was at Moscow Narodny Bank Limited in London and then transferred to its Beirut branch and from 1970 to 1971, he was the chief accountant under Viktor Gerashchenko and from 1971 to 1974, the deputy general manager under Tomas Alibegov. From 1977 to 1984, he was director of East-West United Bank (EWUB) (Luxembourg). After EWUB, Malinin returned to Vneshtorgbank of the USSR and from 1984 to 1985 was the head of the foreign bank loans department then in 1985 was the head of the department for monitoring the operational activities of overseas Soviet banks until February 1988 when he became the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Vnesheconombank of the USSR until December 1990. He moved to Vienna and from December 1990 to April 1996, he was Chairman of the Board of Donau Bank. In 2012, he became an independent director at Vozrozhdenie Bank and served on its board of directors until his death in 2021.[23][24]

References edit

  1. ^ Builov, Maksim (11 December 2001). "Banking 1991-2000". Kommersant. Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Igor Strehl wurde zum Vorstandsvorsitzenden der VTB Bank (Austria) AG ernannt" [Igor Strehl has been appointed Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank (Austria) AG]. ots.at (in German). 22 March 2011. Archived from the original on 22 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  3. ^ "VTB Group completes the merger of its European operations under one license". vtb.com. 9 January 2018. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  4. ^ Казьмина, Ирина (Kazmina, Irina) (2 April 2015). "Банкир под прикрытием" [Undercover banker]. Forbes (forbes.ru) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 16 June 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b c Бирман, Александр (Birman, Alexander) (17 May 2005). "Акимов и "Газпромбанк": Орден национального достояния. "Газпромовская" "дочка", которая гуляет сама по себе" [Akimov and Gazprombank: Order of the National Treasure. "Gazprom" "daughter", which walks by itself]. Компания (ko.ru) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 20 May 2005. Retrieved 13 September 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "AGENTS IN POWER". The Saint Petersburg Times. 12 February 2008. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Медведев, Александр Иванович" [Medvedev, Alexander Ivanovich]. TASS (in Russian). 12 December 2023. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Andres Baumgartner, Dr. iur., LL.M., Attorney at Law". Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner Attorneys at Law (dbp.ch). 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  9. ^ "Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner Attorneys at Law: Profile". Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner Attorneys at Law (dbp.ch). 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  10. ^ a b "Urs Dietrich, Dr. iur., Attorney at Law". Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner Attorneys at Law (dbp.ch). 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  11. ^ "Founders and Partners". Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner Attorneys at Law (dbp.ch). 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Partners". Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner Attorneys at Law (dbp.ch). 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  13. ^ a b c d Harding, Luke (3 April 2016). "Sergei Roldugin, the cellist who holds the key to tracing Putin's hidden fortune: The Russian president's best friend portrays himself as a modest musician, but leaked documents reveal his role in a secret money-go-round". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  14. ^ Weiss, Michael (13 April 2017). "Panama Papers' Russian Mob Connection. TANGLED WEB. The trove of leaked documents has already revealed the billions swirling around Putin. Now a Swiss firm named in the papers appears to have links to Russian organized crime". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  15. ^ Plattner, Titus; Boss, Catherine; Brönnimann, Christian; Burnier, Pascale (6 April 2016). "Comment des avocats genevois exploitent les failles de l'offshore: Clients placés sous sanctions internationales et proches de chefs d'Etat, création de nombreuses sociétés ou retraits en espèces: des hommes de loi suisses ne s'effraient de rien lorsqu'ils se muent en "intermédiaires financiers"" [How Geneva lawyers exploit offshore loopholes: Clients placed under international sanctions and close to heads of state, creation of numerous companies or cash withdrawals: Swiss lawyers are not afraid of anything when they become “financial intermediaries”.]. Tribune de Genève (tdg.ch) (in French). Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023. Archived English translation version
  16. ^ Bernstein, Jake; Blum, Petra; Zihlmann, Oliver; Thompson, David; Obermaier, Frederik; Obermayer, Bastian (3 April 2016). "All Putin's Men: Secret Records Reveal Money Network Tied to Russian Leader: Complex offshore financial deals channel money and power towards a network of people and companies linked to President Vladimir Putin". ICIJ. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  17. ^ Nietlispach, David (28 March 2023). "Putin's money trails in Switzerland". The Medium. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Der Schatz des Putin-Clans" [The treasure of the Putin clan]. Tages-Anzeiger (www.tagesanzeiger.ch) (in German). 13 February 2023. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Fabio Delcò, Dr. iur., LL.M., Attorney at Law". Dietrich, Baumgartner & Partner Attorneys at Law (dbp.ch). 13 October 2023. Archived from the original on 13 October 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  20. ^ Кучеренко, Владимир (Kucherenko, Volodymyr) (8 June 2002). "Кто сегодня правит Россией?" [Who rules Russia today?]. Стрингер (stringer-news.com) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 October 2023. Retrieved 12 October 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Alternate archive as Кто сегодня правит Россией? Те, кто держит ее долговые расписки (Who rules Russia today? Those who hold her IOUs).
  21. ^ Питиримова, Ольга (Pitirimova, Olga) (7 December 2006). "СПИСОК НЕКОТОРЫХ КОМПАНИЙ, УПОМИНАВШИХСЯ В ПРЕССЕ В СВЯЗИ С ПРОЦЕДУРАМИ СЛИЯНИЙ И ПОГЛОЩЕНИЙ" [LIST OF SOME OF THE COMPANIES MENTIONED IN THE PRESS IN CONNECTION WITH MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS]. «Дело №» (delonomer.ru) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 14 January 2007. Retrieved 12 October 2023.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) Alternate archive
  22. ^ "The VTB Brand". vtb.at. 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  23. ^ a b "Малинин, Владимир Георгиевич" [Malinin, Vladimir Georgievich]. «ФИНАНСОВЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ: ГОДЫ И ЛЮДИ» (fa100.ru) (in Russian). 2022. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  24. ^ a b "Малинин, Владимир Георгиевич: биография" [Malinin, Vladimir Georgievich: Biography]. «ФИНАНСОВЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ: ГОДЫ И ЛЮДИ» (fa100.ru) (in Russian). 2022. Archived from the original on 8 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  25. ^ "Лякин, Валерий Витальевич" [Lyakin, Valery Vitalievich]. fa100.ru (in Russian). 13 September 2023. Archived from the original on 13 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  26. ^ "Igor Strehl" (in German). Archived from the original on 15 October 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Alexey Krokhin ist neuer Vorsitzender des Vorstandes der VTB Bank (Austria) AG" [Alexey Krokhin is the new Chairman of the Management Board of VTB Bank (Austria) AG]. ots.at (in German). 15 May 2013. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2023.

See also edit