MegaFon CEO calls it a day, again

The boss of Russia’s second-largest MNO has decided to hand over the reins once more, having previously done so six years ago.

Sergey Soldatenkov started his current tenure as CEO of MegaFon in 2016 after Ivan Tavrin resigned in order to pursue other interests. This marked the reversal of the move four year earlier in which Tavarin stepped in as CEO, with Soldatenkov moving up to the Chairman position. The fact that he had to move back into the CEO office suggests Tavarin’s departure may have been somewhat sudden.

Soldatenkov’s second tenure as CEO was expected to last three years but that too has been cut short with MegaFon Executive Director Gevork Vermishian stepping up to the plate. There is no mention of Soldatenkov returning to the Chairman role so it looks like he’s just decided to call it a day at MegaFon.

“I have decided that the time has come to hand the reins to Gevork,” said Soldatenkov. “I have been involved with the company since its creation, almost 20 years ago. Throughout this time we have been at the forefront of innovation.

“However, we have been conscious for a long time of the need for a management succession plan. With this in mind, we asked Gevork to take on the role of Executive Director last October, with a view to having me focus on strategy and government relations and having Gevork take on operational issues. In this way it was possible to gradually transition responsibilities to Gevork, and I believe that he is now ready to take over my responsibilities as well and assume full control of the management of the Company.

“I want to thank Sergey Vladimirovich for his huge contribution to the company over the years,” said Ivan Streshinsky, CEO of holding company USM Management. “He is a unique person – he has spent his entire career in telecoms, and as a result he understands the sector better than anyone else. Our decision in 2016 to ask him to return to the position of CEO clearly paid off handsomely.”

MegaFon has 29% of Russian mobile subscribers according to Ovum’s WCIS, just behind MTS with 30% or so.