Troika Dialog

The impact investor and social entrepreneur spoke to TASS about what type of threat the coming demographic crisis poses to Russia, how the future will be about social capitalism and why social and educational projects are so important.

Redistribution of property in Russia is an inevitable process, since major companies cannot remain ineffective forever, cautions Ruben Vardanyan. Working on Ruben Vardanyan’s latest interview proved in many ways unusual. For example, we met twice. And whereas during the first meeting the suggestion to “discuss the international situation” was seen as a rather funny joke, subsequently the political situation began to change so quickly that we could hardly manage without this discussion. Vardanyan told Vedomosti how he chooses investment projects, how international investors see the situation in Russia and which fundamental changes the country has long needed. “I think that Russian business in the near future awaits quite a lot of bankruptcies and restructurings, since you cannot eternally inject money into companies bordering on demise and support the owners”, Vardanyan said. Sooner or later we must switch from the model of rescuing owners to the model of rescuing business. This fundamental change must finally happen”. Redistribution of property in Russia is an inevitable process, since major companies cannot remain ineffective forever, including in Russia, Vardanyan cautions.

Why Russian entrepreneurs are good at creating one-off financial projects but not at producing consistent, global businesses. Ruben Vardanyan headed Troika Dialog for twenty years. Last year the brand ceased to exist. In less than a year, Mr. Vardanyan will say goodbye to the investment business. In this interview with Vedomosti, he talks about what partnership with Sberbank has brought to the former Troika, his personal investments and plans to change the approach to philanthropy in Russia.

What do you see as the beginning of the stock market? When did you start believing that it was for real?

Ruben Vardanyan tells about the Sberbank privatization deal

Ruben Vardanyan, President of Troika Dialog, the coordinator of Sberbank’s recent SPO, shared with Gazeta.Ru that he considers the deal the most successful of his career. And given the high demand for the shares of the state-controlled bank, the window for new placements this year is not closed, added Vardanyan.

Ruben Vardanyan on the ideal SKOLKOVO graduates, the business school’s prospects and the reasons for the Moscow protests President of Troika Dialog Investment Company and one of the founders of SKOLKOVO business school, Ruben Vardanyan, explains to MN the source of the rumors regarding SKOLKOVO’s merger with the New Economic School (NES), whom he considers the business school’s ideal graduates, and why Moscow’s middle class has started to protest.

In January of this year, Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and Troika Dialog, a Russian investment firm, announced the closing of their merger. The memorandum of understanding for the purchase of a 100% stake in Troika Dialog for one billion dollars was concluded by Sberbank and the investment company’s shareholders in March 2011, following years of negotiations. According to Troika’s founder Ruben Vardanyan, the final agreement for the merger was signed in the office of Sberbank chairman Herman Gref.

Today, Mr. Vardanyan, who has been head of the company since 1992, is seeking a successor. In an exclusive interview with “Expert”, the president of Troika Dialog, co-head of the corporate-investment unit, and head of wealth management at Sberbank of Russia spoke about how much longer he intends to work in the new structure and what its tasks are.

In late January, Russian newspapers wrote that “Troika Dialog” “doesn’t exist anymore” meaning that after closing the deal of selling the company to Sberbank there will be no “Troika” brand any longer. You said in your interview to the “Vedomosti” that “there is no point in preserving the brand: if we want to develop the services of Sberbank Group it will be more proper to be called Sberbank”. Don’t you have any emotions on this occasion? For the brand you have been establishing since 1991 heading the first investment bank in the Soviet Union stops existing.

The zone of turbulence that the financial markets found themselves in at the start of August is still with us – indexes remain extremely volatile. Do any effective instruments for extinguishing the tension on the markets exist? Who benefited from the derivatives market of financial instruments growing to $1,200 trillion, despite the fact that the world economy is equal to about $60 trillion? Why is it more convenient to throw rubbish out the window and why are traders becoming cleaners? Ruben Vardanyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Troika Dialog, talked about the above in this interview with Kommersant, which continues the cycle of materials evaluating the situation on the financial markets.

The crisis didn’t lead to the improvement of the world financial system – Ruben Vardanyan, Troika Dialog’s Board of Directors Chairman, believes another serious shock can be expected. This affects the outlook for investment companies’ professional activities.

Last week the final details were officially agreed to in the deal for Sberbank’s purchase of Troika Dialog, a Russian investment bank. The merger between the largest state-owned bank and Russia’s oldest investment bank is viewed by market participants as part of a growing trend on the Russian financial market toward a monopoly of state-controlled players. In an interview with Kommersant, Ruben Vardanyan, CEO of Troika Dialog, speaks about why negotiations on the deal lasted more than half a year, how adding the prefix “gov-” helps to secure deal mandates, how the resignation of Herman Gref would benefit Troika’s top executives and why it is important to keep an eye on ambulance routes.

In their home country, Russian businessmen are scolded rather than loved: “They could learn a thing or two.” What this means, of course, is learning to earn money: do it quicker and easier. Ruben Vardanyan, of course, can tell you how to earn money, forecast risks and valuate deals. But he can tell you even more about how to be a person. Some will tell you that being a person is the simplest thing of all. But go ahead and try. All I can say is that Ruben Vardanyan does it well.

The strengthening of the government’s role in the economy led to a regrettable result: some businessmen resemble Soviet factory directors, profiting off the government by shifting expenses to the latter while leaving the profits for themselves, with everyone else deprived of access to the officials’ offices and left searching for options, according to Vardanyan. He has headed Troika Dialog for nearly 20 years, but intends to leave and sell his stake in the company. Mr. Vardanyan spoke with Vedomosti about preparations for the eventual split.

Ruben Vardanyan, chairman of Troika Dialog, said he will quit Russia’s oldest brokerage in three to five years and will offer his 40 percent stake to the firm’s management.

The CEO of Troika Dialog admits he doesn’t possess musical or artistic talents. The only thing he knows how to do inside and out is to create business and oversee ambitious projects with an aim for the future.

At this year’s Russian Business Week in London, Troika Dialog chairman Ruben Vardanyan talked about problems in the economy, modernization and attracting the best people.

Offering his summary report on the investors’ congress to Dengi special correspondent Petr Rushailo is Ruben Vardanyan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Troika Dialog.

Last month I visited the 13th Africa Forum in Cape Town, organized by Troika Dialog’s strategic partner Standard Bank. Talking with delegates, I was struck once again by the sheer scale of opportunity that exists in Africa for Russian business, just as Russia becomes an increasingly attractive market for African products.

With Standard Bank’s stake in Troika Dialog formally approved in September, the Russian investment house is about to venture into new markets and product lines, including trade finance. Rebecca Spong met with Ruben Vardanyan, chairman and CEO of Troika Dialog, to find out more.

The global financial system collapsed in 2008: two of the oldest investment banks – Bear Sterns and Lehman Brothers – suffered a crash, while their peers had no choice but to become commercial banks. One year ago, at the height of the crisis, Ruben Vardanyan said in an interview with Vedomosti that Troika Dialog had withstood the crisis and wouldn’t even sell a minority stake. However, it was announced in March that South Africa’s Standard Bank had acquired a 33% stake in Troika Dialog Group. Vardanyan spoke with Vedomosti about the other scenarios for business development reviewed by Troika, how the investment bank is faring in the new situation, and his various other projects at the moment.

There are no hurdles left for the merger between Troika Dialog and Standard Bank: the regulatory organs in Russia, the U.K. and South Africa have given their approval to the deal. Speaking with RBK Daily correspondent Albert Koshkarov about how the alliance will lead to the creation of a new financial institute capable of working effectively on global markets is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Troika Dialog Group Ruben Vardanyan.

In March 2009, Standard Bank and Troika Dialog announced a strategic partnership deal: South Africa’s largest bank acquired a 33% stake in the Russian investment company for $200 mln and also contributed its entire subsidiary Russian bank to Troika. The partnership raised a number of questions, namely: hadn’t Standard Bank rescued Troika (similar to how Renaissance Capital had been rescued by the Onexim Group) from a mountain of debt? And was this deal a conversion of Troika’s debt to Standard Bank into shares? We met with the directors of Troika Dialog and Standard Bank separately in order to ask them both the same questions – about the deal in March, the outlook for the financial market, and the current economic situation.

I think it’s great that he is here. I think everybody is concerned not only with Russia, but the worldwide crisis and about how the different countries that are playing an important role can influence decisions which will help us solve these problems quicker. I hope that Prime Minister Putin will address the main issues not about Russia but about the global picture and about how Russia in this global picture can play an important role.

The financial crisis in Russia was first felt by the brokers. Russia’s largest broker managed to stay on its feet – even promising to pay out employee bonuses at year-end – but is not counting on any profits this year. For the past two weeks, market participants have taken a grim outlook on Troika, thinking that the crisis will ruin the company. But the company has survived.

Ruben Vardanyan, the newest member of MMC’s International Advisory Board (IAB), is chairman and CEO of Troika Dialog Group – the oldest and largest private investment bank in Russia and a market leader in securities sales and trading, investment banking, asset management, and private equity.

Mr. Vardanyan is a leading figure in Russia’s capital markets. He played a key role in the development of the country’s stock market, and has been named “Businessperson of the Year” by the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. He was also cited in a Fortune magazine article on the next generation of global leaders as one of the 25 “Rising Stars” for 2001. In 2004 he won Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Russia..

As chairman and CEO of Troika Dialog, Mr. Vardanyan is also an MMC cross-company client. He recently sat down with Momentum editor Vince Beatty to discuss the business climate in Russia and the vast opportunities it presents for MMC, as well as his experience as a cross-company client and MMC IAB member.

The former CEO of Troika Dialog, founder of Skolkovo Business School and partner of investment company Vardanyan, Broitman and Partners speaks about new projects, the logic of current events and prospects.

Ruben Vardanyan scheduled the interview for eight in the morning. He says that he usually works from eight in the morning until eleven at night. Apparently, following the sale of Troika Dialog (in October 2011) and departure from the business of Sberbank CIB (in August 2013), Vardanyan’s work has scarcely slowed down.

An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Ruben Vardanyan dislikes speaking about politics and the economy, which is today inseparably tied to politics. This is not only because he is generally very cautious in his statements: he is truly much more interested by what he directly engages in and is able to impact himself.

For a man once called the poster boy of Russian capitalism, Ruben Vardanyan is remarkably relaxed about the crisis erupting around him. Sitting in his office in one of Moscow’s premier office complexes, which he also owns, surrounded by deal trophies and other symbols of his success, Mr Vardanian’s response to the rouble’s collapse and the slide towards recession is typically Russian: it has been worse.

“It’s all relative,” he says, before counting off a list of Russian economic crises of the past quarter century since the collapse of the Soviet Union. “Looking back for 25 years being in this country I can tell you, there are always challenges.”