Sberbank CEO’s revelations at bank’s annual general meeting of shareholders
Issue:
July 2009, Vol. 4, No. 6
Tags:
Sberbank
Sberbank held its annual general meeting of shareholders last month, where CEO German Gref presented a comprehensive report on the bank’s current state of affairs, remunerations for management and employees and payments of dividends. However, a question from a shareholder on why the country’s largest bank does not have competitive rates on deposits drew an emotional outburst from Gref.
“We are not a casino. There are banks, which offer 20% annual interest rates. I advise those wishing to play [casino] to go to such banks, and we shall see how they retrieve their savings from such banks,” he noted. “We shall not follow such policies because our balanced interest rates on savings reflect the prevailing market realities.”
Similarly, one of the shareholders who was not impressed with the extravagant design of the annual report with some elements of ‘hi-tech’ on the cover, called on the management to exhibit modesty in expenses, especially in crisis time. Again, Gref’s reaction was paradoxical: “Modesty is inappropriate on issues relating the bank’s prospects.”
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