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Andrey Suchkov

vice-president, Vneshtorgbank Andrey Suchkov is the head of Vneshtorgbank’s mortgage and consumer credit division and has a good claim to the title “father of Russian mortgages”.Mortgages have just come of age in Russia and the business of lending money to people to buy their own home is expected to grow from the current $1bn to somewhere over $100bn by the end of the decade.
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This year the Kremlin has thrown itself into building a mortgage market and wants to see one-third of Russians owning their own homes by 2008.

Mr Suchkov graduated from the prestigious Moscow State University in 1979 at 22 and worked as an economist at the even more prestigious Russian Academy of Sciences, getting a PhD in 1984.

The American Urban Institute quickly snapped him up shortly after the fall of communism, where he was tasked with developing a mortgage market at a time when inflation was running at 20% a month and banks were desperate for dollars. Long-term financing was the last thing on their minds.

Mr Suchkov not only wrote the book on Russian mortgages, but many of the laws too, as a member of team advising the government on developing mortgage legislation now being put in place. As Russian banks scramble to get into the mortgage business, he accepted a job offer from Vneshtorgbank (VTB) two years ago, to have a more hands-on role. Mr Suchkov founded VTB’s mortgage business about 18 months ago – well ahead of the rest of the market – and more recently has expanded his department to develop consumer crediting, and especially credit card business. VTB is already a top five retail player.

Risks: Competition among banks is red hot and as the stakes go up, so do the pay packets. VTB maybe Russia’s second-largest bank, but it remains a state behemoth and its staff are vulnerable to poaching. With every serious bank in Moscow looking to get the edge over their rivals – at a time when first-mover advantage can still shape the market for decades to come – Mr Suchkov is an attractive target for head hunters.

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Read more about:  Central & Eastern Europe , Russia