1. Private diversified financial services and credit institution.  
2. One of Russia’s top ten largest banks in assets and capital. 
3. The largest regional branch network: over 600 outlets and 3000 ATMs in 70 regions of the Russian Federation. 

Interros creates Rosbank as a bridge bank for UNEXIM Bank during the financial meltdown. Rosbank is the first Russian bank to completely resolve all UNEXIM Bank and MFK debt issues that came about in the wake of the crisis. Once all obligations to creditors have been restructured, both banks’ assets and liabilities are transferred to Rosbank. 

The merger of the MFK, UNEXIM Bank, and Rosbank teams creates an efficient financial organization that offers quality services to its clients, from traditional commercial banking to complex investment deals.  

Rosbank adopts a new development strategy that involves working with retail clients in addition to corporate banking and announces its plans to dive into retail banking. 

• 350 branches of Pervoe O.V.K. for $200 mln, a large network of regional branches and offices, second only to Sberbank of Russia 
• STB Card payment processing company 
• Inkahran, a cash-in-transit company 
• Unified Settlement System, a non-bank credit organization 

2005
Rosbank and Perviy OVK Bank’s asset merger yields results:  

• Rosbank becomes the largest private retail bank in Russia
• over 600 outlets in Russia. 

Interros and Société Générale, a French bank group, agree to partner in banking. In June SG acquires 10% of Rosbank shares from Interros for $317 mln. In September Société Générale acquires another 10% of Rosbank at the same price with an option to acquire a 30% stake for $1.7 bln.

The option is executed in February, giving Société Générale a controlling stake in Rosbank. 

Shareholders decide to tap into the synergy potential of various business lines and make Rosbank a leading international financial institution in Russia. To achieve this goal, they decide to consolidate the assets of Société Générale in Russia, namely Rosbank and other subsidiary banks: Bank Société Générale Vostok (BSGV), Rusfinance, and DeltaCredit. 

Rosbank acquires Rusfinans and DeltaCredit banks from SG, with both banks becoming Rosbank subsidiaries. Rosbank merges with BSGV in the middle of the year to become the largest international financial institution in Russia. At this point SG’s share in Rosbank has reached 82.4%. 

Interros sells the remaining 7% of Rosbank to Société Générale, thus completing the multi-phased sale of bank shares to the French group.

1. One of the first private companies in Russia to receive a license (License #2) to provide banking services.
2. Founders: International Bank of Economic Cooperation, the RFSR Bank of Foreign Trade, Sberbank of RSFSR and VEA Interros.
3. One of the first companies in Russia to provide professional financial services to businesses.

VEA Interros becomes keenly aware of the growing market for not just consulting services but also for professional financial services to accompany businesses every step of the way. In February, Vladimir Potanin creates the International Company for Finance and Investments (MFK) with the International Bank of Economic Cooperation, the Bank of Foreign Trade of the RSFSR, the Sberbank of the RSFSR, and VEA Interros as co-founders. MFK is headed by Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prohorov, the former head of the Foreign Currency and Export Department at the CMEA International Bank of Economic Cooperation. In September the company becomes a co-founder of MICEX, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange.

In April, MFK co-founds UNEXIM Bank, a new universal bank to meet the banking needs of large clients within Russia as well as those engaged in international trade.

In May, the International  Company for Finance and Investments files with the Central Bank of Russia to become the AKB MFK Joint-Stock Commercial Bank. In October, by presidential decree, UNEXIM Bank and AKB MFK form Interros Financial-Industrial Group.

• Create, coordinate and implement development programs for FPG founding companies
• Ensure financial turnaround of FPG founding companies 
• Restructure
• Coordinate investment pooling

  

Euromoney magazine cites MFK as one of the five most reliable Russian institutions working with foreign investors.

In July, AKB MFK shareholders announce the merger with Renaissance Capital, Boris Jordan’s investment company, where they also had a stake. 

The company outperformed all other Russian investment banks and investment organizations on all key financial indicators and on the scale of its operations. 

• MFK Renaissance Group aggregate capital — $400 mln
• Total assets — over $2 bln 
• Total amount of foreign investment brought into the Russian economy with the group’s involvement — over $10 bln per year

The MFK-Renaissance joint venture is dissolved in the wake of the August 1998 financial meltdown. Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prohorov take out their equity through shareholder settlement. AKB MFK ceases to exist as shareholders decide to integrate it and UNEXIM Bank into Rosbank, a new bank created to clean up after the crisis and repair Russia’s financial system.

1. The largest universal bank in Russia in the 1990s. 
2. With more than 30 shareholders and clients, the bank united Russia’s key players in foreign trade. 
3. UNEXIM Bank cofounders’ aggregate revenue was upwards of $10 billion per year.

New foreign trade mechanisms continue to sprout from the ruins of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance to replace linkages severed by Comecon’s dissolution.  It is becoming increasingly clear that the existing banks cannot meet the needs of the growing market. What is sorely missing is a large universal bank to efficiently and reliably service rapidly developing foreign trade. There is a pressing need to create a structure able to unite the largest foreign trade participants, while fitting in with the existing market infrastructure. On April 20, the Central Bank of Russia registers UNEXIM (United Export-Import) Bank, founded by Vladimir Potanin. Potanin is the President of UNEXIM Bank, and his partner Mikhail Prohorov is the Chairman of the Board. Over 30 of Russia’s largest foreign trade companies and organizations become the new Bank’s clients and shareholders: Sovrybflot, Technostroyexport, Raznoexport, Rosvneshtorg, NPO Energy, JSC Nafta-Moscow, JSC Norilsk Nickel, GVK Rosnefteimpeks, and MFK, the International Company for Finance and Investment. The cofounders’ and shareholders’ reputation and professionalism, coupled with the high-quality banking services, help expand the customer base to include large state-owned organizations and government-affiliated entities. For example, the Customs Service works with the Bank to implement a cargo-tracking system and create terminals to log data into a border-crossing database. UNEXIM bank is a perfect fit for market needs and, in the words of Vladimir Potanin, it grows to be the first “private bank that thinks like the government”.

  

UNEXIM Bank continues to grow its assets and works effectively with large companies to expand its client base. The Bank develops customized banking products for government-funded clients, such as Rosvooruzhenie. In October, by presidential decree, UNEXIM Bank and AKB MFK create the Interros Financial Industrial Group. 

• Design, coordinate and implement business development plans of the founding companies.
• Achieve financial turnaround of its founding companies.
• Restructure.
• Centralize investment-seeking activities.

1995

State-owned shares of companies are placed under UNEXIM-Bank and MFK (UNEXIM-MFK Group) management: 

• Sidanko (51%)
• RAO “Norilsk Nickel” (51% of voting shares)
• NLMK (14.84%)
• Controlling stake in the North-West Shipping Company

The state-owned shares previously transferred for management under the loans-for-shares auctions are acquired by Interros Group companies.

When the August crisis hits, UNEXIM Bank is one of the country’s largest private financial institutions. It becomes the nucleus of a powerful financial-industrial group and is recognized as such both in Russia and abroad. The 1998 financial crisis virtually destroys Russia’s banking system. Large financial institutions that were active in the financial markets and invested in GKO-OFZ (Russian T-bills and federal loan bonds), including UNEXIM Bank, are the hardest hit. UNEXIM Bank’s combined liabilities amount to $1.7 bln. Different banks “left the stage” in different ways. Following a constructive dialogue with its counterparts, UNEXIM Bank undergoes an unprecedented, fully transparent successful commercial restructuring, the first in the country. Interros covers UNEXIM Bank’s $400 mln obligations to its creditors, thus safeguarding private clients’ deposits. With no other sources of outside funding, bank management designs and implements a complex system of trading in claims for assets, obtaining the best possible financial outcome under the political and economic circumstances.

On February 16, two groups of UNEXIM Bank’s creditors sign a framework agreement to restructure bank debts. Almost all of the remaining creditors will follow suit at a later date. Moscow Commercial Court ceases UNEXIM Bank bankruptcy proceedings on July 3. UNEXIM Bank merges with Rosbank, having restructured $1.5 billion in liabilities.

1. One of the first insurance companies in Russia.
2. With the founding of Soglasie Interros became one of the first companies in the country to venture out into commercial insurance. 
3. The company offers almost every kind of insurance and reinsurance permitted under the Russian law. 
4. Has over 700 branches in Russia. 

A year after the Federal Insurance Law paves the way for commercial insurance in the country, Interros creates Soglasie, one of the first insurance companies on the Russian market 

The company is co-founded by: MFK, UNEXIM Bank, and the Interros-Dostoinstvo Non-State Pension Fund. The name of the company is changed to Interros-Soglasie. Prompted by increased competition in the insurance services market, shareholders demand that the company expand its product offerings to companies and organizations outside the Interros Group. Soglasie, headed by CEO Igor Zhuk, continues to provide insurance protection for all of Interros holding’s assets and to strengthen corporate relationships. At the same time, Soglasie is aggressively building an external client base. As one of the first companies to explore new market segments for insurance, Soglasie is involved in forming a rules-based insurances services market. For instance, Soglasie develops norms and standards for the automotive insurance market together with a select cohort of insurance companies. 

The founders restore the original name — Soglasie — by dropping the Interros prefix. The Expert RA rating agency assigns Soglasie an A+  rating — signifying high creditworthiness with stable outlook — in a ranking of domestic insurance companies. 

The company’s rating is reaffirmed in June. The Soglasie Insurance Company becomes part of Prokhorov’s UNEXIM Group as the result of the division of assets between Vladimir Potanin and Mikhail Prokhorov.

1. Obtained the very first license from the Non-State Pension Funds Inspectorate under the Ministry of Labor (license registered in December 1993).
2. The oldest non-state pension fund in Russia — over 19 years in operation, the private pension funds market trailblazer. 
3. One of the top five private pension funds in Russia.

Interros creates the Interros-Dostoinstvo Non-State Pension Fund and obtains the very first license to operate as a private pension fund.

Interros- Dostoinstvo Non-State Pension Fund statistics:

• Combined fund assets— 70.2 mln rub
• Pension reserves — 59.8 mln rub in 2004

Several other Interros holding companies become Interros-Dostoinstvo co-founders.

In April, Interros-Dostoinstvo Non-State Pension Fund is renamed Norilsk Nickel Non-State Pension Fund and transferred to the control of MMC Norilsk Nickel.

Based on changes to its business model and strategy, the Norilsk Nickel Non-State Pension Fund is renamed the Nasledie Non-State Pension Fund.

• Property in ownership — 59,885,258,000 rub
• Pension funds under management — 45,824,282,000 rub
• Funded pension reserves — 13,776,079,000 rub
• Assets to conduct statutory activity — 174,217,000 rub
• Co-founders’ capital contribution — 408,926,000 rub
• Number of pension account holders — 1,031,625 
• Number of individuals drawing pensions — 20,405

1. IR-Leasing was one of the first leasing companies in Russia, making Interros one of the founders of the leasing services market in Russia.
2. Competitive advantages:  financial underwriting by the MFK-UNEXIM Group and an outside-the-box approach.
3. Largest deals in the energy and mining sectors.

There is virtually no leasing services market in the country. Essentially all of the necessary tools are missing: a legislative framework, long credit, and experience - both in the banking community and among the lessees. The prevailing economic conditions of high inflation, a lack of professional managers, and a shortage of qualified employees at the lessee companies exacerbate the situation. Interros creates Interros Leasing, relying on the skills of its own staff and global experience gleaned from using leasing as an effective tool for technical upgrades. The Interros team works with Rosleasing, the Russian Association of Leasing Companies, on strengthening domestic legislation as appropriate. Financial underwriting by the company’s shareholders, MFK and UNEXIM Bank, give Interros-Leasing an important competitive advantage. Another important distinction of Interros-Leasing is its innovative approach and good grasp of the market. The company is able to offer products and services that meet the market’s most urgent needs. The first Interros Leasing contract is to supply a 50-ton tunneling machine by Alpine Westfalia, a German/Austrian firm, to ALROSA’s International (aka Mirniy) mine.

Interros Leasing signs a leasing agreement with RAO Norilsk Nickel to supply the company’s business units with Atlas-Copco-Wagner underground drill rigs, load-haul machines, and underground haulers totaling over $33 mln.

The large-scale project with Norilsk Nickel is unfolding at the height of the 1998 financial crisis, yet not a single payment is missed, and the equipment is delivered to the mines on schedule. Interros Leasing secures major contracts in the energy sector, including construction of Kaliningrad heat-and-power plant #2 and the Belgorod Luch heat-and-power plant, and supplying turbines for the Zhigulev hydropower plant.

The Company changes its name to IR-Leasing.

IR-Leasing management buys out the company, which becomes an independent player on the market.