Sistema Public Joint Stock Financial Corporation's managing partner Tagir Sitdekov has been appointed to replace Vladimir Chirakhov as president of the Russian investment group effective July 12, 2022. The decision on the appointment was confirmed by Sistema's board of directors at a meeting on July 9, the company, the principal shareholder of which is Vladimir Yevtushenkov Chirakhov will step down effective July 11. Sitdekov, who has served as managing partner since May 2021, has been appointed for a three-year term.

The appointment of Sitdekov, who joined Sistema recently, changes the established practice at the group, where the CEO of a group subsidiary is appointed to head the group. The CEOs of mobile provider MTS have been promoted to head Sistema three times, and the CEO of retailer Detsky Mir has been once. Chirakhov, who had served as president of Sistema since April 2020, will now focus on his own projects and will join the boards of a number of Sistema's portfolio companies.

Sitdekov, as managing partner, was responsible for Sistema's projects in various sectors, including healthcare and pharmaceuticals. He joined the group from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), where he had worked since 2011, most recently in the position of first deputy CEO. Prior to joining the RDIF, Sitdekov served as a managing director at the Alfa Group consortium's A1 investment company.

Sistema shareholders elected a new board of directors at an extraordinary general meeting on Saturday. From among members of the previous board, Segezha Group Mikhail Shamolin and Higher School of Economics academic supervisor Yaroslav Kuzminov were re-elected. In addition, Anna Belova, who served on the board from 2017 to April 2022, rejoined it.

Also elected to the board were Tagir Sitdekov and Sistema senior managing partner Ali Uzdenov; Oleg Vyugin, former chairman of the supervisory board of the Moscow Exchange; Daniel Wolfe, former board director at Segezha Group; Elena Chikisheva, former head of digital innovation in auditing at EY; and Nikolai Mikhailov, who served on Sistema's board in 2000-2006. Belova was elected chairman of the board. Five of the nine directors are independent: Wolfe, Vyugin, Kuzminov, Mikhailov and Chikisheva.