Vodka Manufacturers Buy Bank

<BR>A new bank has been registered in St Petersburg for the first time in three years. It was founded by local alcoholic drinks and aluminium manufacturers.<BR>"We need the bank as an accounts centre, in order to be sure that our money is safe," DP's correspondent was told by Alexander Sabadash, a member of the board of directors of ZAO Liviz, and a manager at the alcoholic drinks company AFB-2. The new bank is called OOO Invest-Ecobank. The cost of the purchase is not being announced.<BR>The bank chairman is to be Ludmila Ponidelko, who made a name for herself in St Petersburg as Most Bank branch manager, and wife of the ex-head of police, Anatoly Ponidelko. "I worked for five years at a branch, and now I decided to try myself out at a higher level, as chairman of a regional bank," commented Ludmila Ponidelko.<BR>According to Alexander Sabadash, Ponidelko was recruited to the post by founders who were once clients of Most Bank. The choice of a new bank rested on her shoulders entirely, and she chose OOO SAVA, based in Volograd. Ponidelko said that several banks were considered, but shareholders liked SAVA's financial position and loans portfolio. SAVA is a relatively small bank, with a hard currency balance of just 25m roubles.<BR>There bank no longer has any Volgograd shareholders, and the new shareholders have officially moved the bank to St Petersburg, whilst increasing the charter capital by $1.2m. Ponidelko said that the bank will start by servicing its shareholders, before turning to city and oblast industrial enterprises for additional custom.