Top Sberbank Exec Flees Russia, Moscow Times Reports

Sberbank’s former first deputy chairman of the board reportedly fled Russia around the time of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, ending nine years with the country’s largest state-owned lender, Vladislav Shatilo reported for the independent Moscow Times.

Photo Insert: Former first deputy chairman of the board Lev Khasis was among the first of Sberbank’s top managers to leave the country and was later followed by a number of key senior executives.

Lev Khasis is at least the fourth publicly known senior Russian executive to make an abrupt exit since late February, when Russia invaded its neighbor. His departure comes as observers watch for signs of cracks in Russia’s elite as the financially draining war enters its eighth week.

Khasis was among the first of Sberbank’s top managers to leave the country and was later followed by a number of key senior executives, the Vedomosti business daily reported Monday, citing one of three unnamed sources. “It simply shocked employees,” they said.

Ten days before Russian troops marched into Ukraine on Feb. 24, Sberbank announced a reshuffle that would move Khasis to preside over its new e-commerce holding company starting June 1.

Khasis, a dual Russian-US citizen, left for the US and is no longer employed at any of Sberbank’s businesses, Vedomosti said. Transparency International Russia director Ilya Shumanov said that Khasis allegedly runs a real estate business in Florida and had a business partner convicted on several counts of tax fraud and theft.

Presidential envoy Anatoly Chubais, Yandex CEO Elena Bunina, and Aeroflot deputy CEO Andrei Panov previously announced or were reported to have quit and relocated abroad since the war started on Feb. 24.

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