OREANDA-NEWS.  November 16, 2012. Sberbank has approved a new organizational structure for its central head office, effective January 1, 2013, reported the press-centre of Sberbank.

The new structure will accelerate modernization in retail and corporate activities, Sberbank's core businesses in Russia. The Retail Block of Sberbank will switch to segment-based client interaction, in order to more tightly focus activities on the needs of each client segment. Most prominent of the changes to the Corporate Block is Sberbank CIB (Corporate and Investment Business), formed as a result of integration with Troika Dialog and offering integrated client services. As before, the Retail Block will be supervised by Alexander Torbakhov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, while the Corporate Block will be supervised by Andrey Donskih, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board. Alexander Bazarov, Vice President and Director of the Corporate Clients Department, will become Senior Vice President and continue his work as co-head of Sberbank CIB.

Sberbank's new structure will result in a significantly enhanced International Operations Block. It will have new business units responsible for developing and coordinating the activities of subsidiary banks; they will be tasked with implementation of best Group practices there as well. The block will be supervised by Sergey Gorkov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board.

In addition, Sberbank is creating a Risks functional block, with two main units: Risk Control and Risk Taking. There will be a single, geographically segmented Interregional Underwriting Center. Given the more prominent role of risk management at Sberbank Group, Vadim Kulik, Vice President and Director of the Risks Department, will be appointed as the member of the Management Board in charge of the Risks Block.

The newly centralized Finance Block will consolidate financial, tax and accounting services. Alexander Morozov, Vice President and Director of the Finance Department, will now hold the position of Deputy Chairman of the Management Board.

Anton Karamzin, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, will continue to supervise IR as Senior Vice President. His work will expand to include green investments and energy efficiency projects by Sberbank Group and its partners. Supervision of certain subsidiaries of the bank will fall under his purview as well.

The reshuffled Management Board of Sberbank of Russia will get to work after approval of the corresponding appointments from the Supervisory Board and regulatory authorities.

Support-role units (Operations, Administration and IT) will be overhauled. Support and maintenance functions are being moved from the central head office to specially designated internal services. One such unit will be the Cash Handling Center, combining cash handling and cash collection services.

Sberbank's relationship with employees will also be given special emphasis: as a part of its new structure, Sberbank is creating an HR Block to be supervised by Vice President Gor Nakhapetyan.

"Following the acquisition of Volksbank, DenizBank and integration with Troika Dialog, Sberbank has transformed from a local credit institution into an international group," said Herman Gref, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board of Sberbank of Russia. "Sberbank's business has become much more complex in terms of operations and products. Our international presence is broader. The new structure will recognize the realities of our business and ensure its continued growth."