OREANDA-NEWS. April 8, 2011. At the meeting of the Board of Directors of OJSC SOGAZ, held in the office of OJSC Gazprom, a decision was made to appoint Sergey Ivanov Chairman of the Management Board.

Vadim Yanov will resign from office at his own will.

Before being appointed head of the insurance company, Mr Ivanov occupied the position of Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Gazprombank, where he supervised relations with corporate clients and private banking, was in charge of relations with government authorities, coordinated special projects at the instructions of the bank’s board of directors and chairman of the management board, and was on the boards of directors of a number of large companies, including CJSC Atomstroyexport, CJSC REP Holding, CJSC Areksimbank, and others.

Aleskey Miller, Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC SOGAZ, Chairman of the Management Board of OJSC Gazprom, noted that the shareholders vested great confidence in Mr Ivanov as a professional financial expert, who, although relatively young, possesses extensive experience in relations with leading Russian corporations. In the opinion of Mr Miller, this experience, gained by Mr Ivanov in Gazprombank, will help SOGAZ significantly increase the number of its corporate clients and raise its market share.

“SOGAZ is one of the largest and fastest growing companies in the insurance market”, said Mr Ivanov. “The aggregate premiums collected by the group in 2010 amounted to almost RUB100 billion. Some of SOGAZ’s clients are key companies in the main sectors of the economy. This is why SOGAZ is capable of setting and fulfilling most ambitious tasks to increase the scope of offered insurance services”.

Mr Ivanov stressed that he appreciates the trust of the shareholders and considers impressive the results achieved by the current top management. “The further growth of the company will be based upon SOGAZ’s long-standing reputation of one of the most reliable insurance companies with high international and Russian ratings, offering high-quality service to its clients”, said the new Chairman of the Management Board.

The Board of Directors expressed their gratitude to Vadim Yanov for his work, mentioning that under his leadership SOGAZ has become one the largest Russian insurers on a federal scale. The company’s capitalization has grown threefold since 2006, while insurance premiums have increased more than twofold. By the end of 2010 SOGAZ ranked second in terms of collected insurance premiums, while its share in the voluntary insurance market for the first time exceeded 10%. SOGAZ is a major corporate insurer, offering insurance coverage to companies engaged in core sectors of the economy. It is one of the most financially stable, transparent and efficient insurance organizations in the country.