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Russian Watchdog seeks to bar Alfa Bank exec

Published 04/13/2011, 12:18 PM
Updated 04/13/2011, 12:20 PM

* Watchdog asks court to disqualify Rushan Khvesyuk

* Bankers say it is a rare practice

* Analysts think the issue is "technical"

MOSCOW, April 13 (Reuters) - Russia's consumer watchdog has asked a regional court to disqualify one of Alfa Bank's top managers, after the largest privately-owned lender repeatedly failed to comply with its orders, a document showed.

The watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, in March asked a district court in Krasnodar to bar Rushan Khvesyuk as chairman of the executive board, Alfa Bank said in a prospectus for its upcoming Eurobond issue obtained by Reuters.

The action came after the watchdog said Khvesyuk and Alfa Bank had repeatedly failed to comply with Rospotrebnadzor's orders to abide by consumer protection laws after violations were found in the lender's Krasnodar branch.

Alfa Bank, ranked among Russia's top-10 lenders by assets, has asked the court to remove the case to a court in the Moscow area, the bank said. A hearing date has not yet been set.

Russia's courts can become a proxy battlefield for business conflicts, and this week another court barred Bank of Moscow Chief Executive Andrei Borodin, who resisted a takeover bid by state-controlled VTB.

Analysts said, however, that the Khvesyuk case did not immediately appear to fit that pattern.

"I think it is a kind of technical issue as all (people) have some problems from time to time. Khvesyuk is a well-known manager, it is a very local issue," said Leonid Slipchenko, an analyst with Uralsib.

Aleksander Gontarenko, a departmental head at Home Credit and Finance Bank, who often deals with Rospotrebnadzor, said he was not aware that it had made similar claims before.

"It is the first time in my experience," he said.

Alfa Bank said the disqualification of Khvesyuk, who is responsible for relations with the government and the central bank, "could affect" its operations but the lender "intends to defend Mr Khvesyuk vigorously". (Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Oksana Kobzeva; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Jon Loades-Carter)

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