The Russian banking sector has attracted many dishonest individuals, as banks are a significant resource for stealing. Additionally, when a bank is doing well, it can expect support from the Central Bank, as no one wants a specific bank to go bankrupt.
Many fraudsters take advantage of the weaknesses in the banking system for their own gain. They move from one bank to another, leaving behind a trail of multibillion-dollar scams, which are ultimately paid for by depositors or the state. One of these individuals is Promsvyazbank's top manager, Alexander Ushakov.
Promsvyazbank's vulnerability lies in the fact that it fulfills government contracts in the defense field, so the Government allowed the institution to keep information about its top managers private. This lack of public information protects the leaders of a bank crucial to the state, but it also provides an opportunity for manipulation. If the public doesn't know who runs Promsvyazbank, the top financial institutions may not disclose their income, property, lifestyle, etc. This is actively exploited by the management.
Promsvyazbank
Alexander Ushakov, a seasoned financier with a long history (including a criminal record), is one of the top managers of the bank. Ushakov has been working in banking for over 25 years. In 2006, while at Stroybank, he engaged in financial fraud by illegally producing and selling credit cards to bank depositors. The Leninsky District Court of Krasnodar found him guilty and sentenced him to 4 years and 6 months in prison, as well as a fine of 550,000 rubles. He went to a penal colony on December 20, 2006.
He managed to reduce his prison term by 2 years and, by May 2009, he had his criminal record erased following a decision by the Prikubansky District Court of the city of Krasnodar.
It seemed like this would mark the end of Ushakov's banking career, and he would have to find a new profession. However, that was not the case. A few years after serving his sentence, he somehow secured a job at Rosenergobank, even reaching a managerial position. No one seemed interested in his criminal history, or he managed to conceal it from his biography. It all seems quite peculiar.
In 2015, Ushakov was elected to the board of directors of Rosenergobank, and it was at this point that his true biography came to light. In May 2015, Branch 4 of the Main Directorate for the Central Federal District of the Bank of Russia sent a message to the credit institution about the increased reputational risk associated with Ushakov's election to the board of directors and his appointment as Director for Strategy and Business Development. The bank's management, upon learning about the criminal past of a board member or fearing negative consequences, promptly removed Ushakov from the collegiate body. Nevertheless, his career in banking did not end with his removal from the board of directors. He remained in the position of director of strategy and business development until the bank went bankrupt 2 years later. Despite the bankruptcy of the bank, in 2019, the banker sued Google for removing information about the page index of the website allowing access to information about him.
Ushakov attempted to censor 5 articles about himself, in which journalists exposed the truth about the criminal history of the banker, citing that his criminal record had been cleared long ago, and the publication of these articles had a negative impact on his career. Surprisingly, the court rejected Ushakov’s request. Nevertheless, all the materials that Ushakov tried to conceal are now unavailable. It is unclear how this happened, but the fact remains that Ushakov achieved his goal.
Excerpts from the court decision
As we have already mentioned, the ineffective actions of the management of Rosenergobank led to the complete bankruptcy of the financial institution. In 2017, the Central Bank shut down Rosenergobank.
Information about Rosenergobank
Ushakov himself played a significant role in the bankruptcy of the bank. During his 3 years in a senior position at the financial institution, at least 2 billion rubles were stolen under Ushakov. Ushakov’s involvement in fraudulent activities in the bank was obvious, as financial frauds were discovered in the projects he led. But Ushakov managed to avoid punishment, even though several leaders of Rosenergobank received actual prison sentences. In this case, Ushakov was fortunate, or managed to pay off.
The extensive criminal record of the banker did not hinder his subsequent work in the financial sector. In 2018, Ushakov was appointed as Director of the Department for Financing Industry, Energy and Housing and Public Utilities of Promsvyazbank. How a person convicted of financial fraud after working in a bankrupt bank was allowed to join a top 10 bank in Russia remains a real mystery.
Promsvyazbank indicators (Data from Sravni.ru)
Additionally, Promsvyazbank fulfills defense orders, so any information about its financial activities is confidential, as well as the composition of the board of directors. Ushakov ended up in an ideal place where everything is so secretive that one can embezzle as much as they want – and no one will find out.
During Ushakov’s appointment to Promsvyazbank, significant manipulations were taking place there. As a result, the owners of the bank, the Ananiev brothers, were accused of embezzling 87 billion rubles from the bank. These funds were intended to stabilize Promsvyazbank, but ended up in the owners’ pockets.
Dmitry and Alexey Ananyev
Since then, the Ananiev brothers have been on the international wanted list, and in their home country, they face a lengthy prison sentence. The bank was nationalized and strongly supported by the state.
The infamous Alexander Ushakov managed to become part of the new management of the bank. And here, no one noticed the banker’s criminal history. Due to the tight security of the bank’s operations, it is hard to understand the current situation there. It is evident that Ushakov himself feels comfortable giving interviews on financial matters to respected media.
However, a few weeks ago, Ushakov was involved in a scandalous incident. On August 10, at Ushakov’s request, Alexandra Bayazitova, a journalist and author of the Telegram channel “Infernal Grandmas”, was arrested. The journalist allegedly demanded money from the top manager of Promsvyazbank in exchange for not publishing material about his criminal past.
Alexandra Bayazitova
The defendant stated at the court session that she did not demand funds from anyone, and she first heard about this story during her detention. Many of the journalistic community supported Bayazitova. But this did not prevent the court from sending her to jail for 2 months, while the investigation lasts.
Publication from the Telegram channel “Hell grandmothers”
Now a banker with a criminal past is a nightmare for journalists, and successfully continues to work in a state bank. The story of Alexander Ushakov’s corruption does not end there, and judging by his role as a “killer of banks”, he will still become the hero of numerous journalistic (and maybe not only) investigations.
