Eduard Zernin, director for corporate governance at Russia’s largest carmaker AvtoVAZ, has been appointed CEO of AvtoVAZ Corporate Centre, which is expected to manage AvtoVAZ, Russian business daily Vedomosti said on Tuesday, citing several AvtoVAZ sources and sources close to the car maker.
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AvtoVAZ’ shareholders are slated to consider transferring the management functions of the company to AvtoVAZ Corporate Centre on 5 October, Vedomosti reported, according to the Prime-Tass news agency.
Currently Zernin reports to Alexander Pronin, first deputy CEO of AvtoVAZ who was widely rumored to be the leading contender for the CEO position. Zernin has previously held the position of deputy CEO of finance and corporate governance at Eleks-Polyus, an AvtoVAZ-controlled car dealer, where Pronin was chairman of the board of directors, Vedomosti said.
Before working at Eleks-Polyus, Zernin was executive director at Region, a Russian investment company.
Zernin is expected to handle AvtoVAZ’s current management reform and is unlikely to run the car maker after the reform is completed, an AvtoVAZ source said, as cited by Vedomosti.
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By GlobalDataIt has not yet been decided who will replace Zernin after leaves, two sources close to AvtoVAZ’s shareholders said, Vedomosti reported.
Among the possible candidates for the CEO position, sources named Pronin, AvtoVAZ’s acting CEO Maksim Nagaitsev, Vladimir Artyakov, chairman of AvtoVAZ’s board of directors, and Alexei Barantsev, CEO of Russian automaker GAZ, Vedomosti said.
Prime-Tass said AvtoVAZ’s current reform started after representatives of Russian state-controlled arms exporter Rosoboronexport were appointed to AvtoVAZ’s board of directors and executive board in 2005. Rosoboronexport said later that the change in AvtoVAZ’s management had not been caused by any changes in ownership. The arms company said that the government had “delegated” its representatives to AvtoVAZ.
In May Vladimir Artyakov, chairman of AvtoVAZ’s board of directors, said that a state-controlled company was expected to buy Automotive All-Russia Alliance, or AVVA, and the Central Division of the Automotive Financial Corporation, or TsO AFK, AvtoVAZ subsidiaries that hold 36% and 24%, respectively, in their parent company.
In July a source close to AvtoVAZ told Vedomosti that yet-to-be established Automobile Investment Company was expected to acquire a stake in AvtoVAZ and manage the company, while another yet-to-be-established company, the Automobile Trading Company, was expected to buy car components for AvtoVAZ and sell AvtoVAZ cars.
