Fuad Akhundov

Fuad Akhundov is a Russian and Azerbajani financier and businessman. Akhundov has worked as the Chairman of the Board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan, as the CEO of the Nikoil Financial Corporation (since 2001), as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Uralsib (since 2003). In 2014, Akhundov became the Chief Executive Officer of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant STOCK Company.

Biography

Fuad Akhundov was born on 12 May 1966 in Baku, the Republic of Azerbaijan. He graduated school №6 in Baku. In 1991 he graduated with honors from the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy with a degree in Engineering and Economics. In 1993 he graduated from a business school at the University of Texas with a degree in Corporate and International Finance (Austin, Texas, USA). In 1994 he studied at the Joint Vienna Institute at the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and at the Japanese Center for International Finance with diploma Macroeconomic Management. He is fluent in English, Azerbaijani, Russian, Turkish. He is married, has three children.

Career

Fuad Akhundov started his career in 1986 as the Chief Engineer in the Engineering and Construction Department of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. During 1987-1991 he appointed as a head of the regulatory research station in the system of Special Construction of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. In 1991 he joined the State Committee for Economy and Planning of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the position of the Chief Economist and Deputy Director of the Directorate of Business Regulation and Economic and Legal Expertise. Fuad Akhundov was engaged in the development of draft laws in the field of economy that laid the foundations of the market reforms in the Republic of Azerbaijan. He took part in the drafting of the following laws: “On the Securities Market”, “On the Liberalization of Business”, “On the Stock Exchange”. In 1992 he was appointed as the advisor of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He continued to participate in the development of the economic legislation of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Fuad Akhundov took part in the development of antitrust legislation and of the following laws: “On the Property”, “On the Committee for State Property”, etc., which ensured the country's transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. After the post-graduate studies at the University of Texas (Austin, Texas, USA), he began his career in the banking system of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 1993 he headed the International Banking Operations Department at the Industrial Investment Bank of Azerbaijan. In 1994 he took a position of the Director of the Department for Regulation of Foreign Exchange Transactions and International Financial Institutions in the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA). Later Fuad Akhundov was appointed as the Director of the Department for Monetary Policy and Regulation of Foreign Exchange Operations in the NBA. From August 1994 to September 1995, he was the Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Azerbaijan. While working at the National Bank of Azerbaijan, Fuad Akhundov led the bank's team at the negotiations of the NBA with the IMF and the World Bank. Being one of the founders of the first monetary program of the NBA, he personally developed and presented the Law “Regulations on Foreign Exchange Regulation” to the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan. A new national payment system and the first Payments balance of the country were introduced under his leadership. As the Chairman of the Board of the Baku Interbank Currency Exchange, he organized the first auction, which laid the foundation for the inter-bank foreign exchange market. In 1995, Fuad Akhundov headed the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA). By 2001, the IBA had become the leading bank in the Republic of Azerbaijan with a market share estimated at 2/3 of the country’s banking capital, and with about 50% of retail deposits. In 1996 the bank launched a credit cards program, the first Azerbaijan’s ATM was installed the same year, and the first international credit cards were issued in 1997. Later, the IBA served over 2 million cardholders and controlled 90% of the country’s market. As a strategy for retail banking operations, the scheme of payment of utility bills was launched in Azerbaijan's capital, the city of Baku, in 2000. The bank was recognized as the best regional bank in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) in the field of management, and as the bank with the best management information system and IT system in the CIS countries (Source: Information Memorandum of KPMG on the privatization of the IBA). Soon, the IBA received an international recognition. According to the Euromoney magazine, it was recognized as the “Best Bank in Azerbaijan” in 1998, 1999, 2000", and won in the nomination of the “Bank of the Year” of the Banker magazine. In 1998, Thomson Financial Bankwatch awarded the IBA with credit rating, and it became the first company in the history of Azerbaijan to receive an international credit rating.

Since 2001, Fuad Akhundov has been the Chief Executive Director, the First Vice President Nikoil Finance Corporation (Moscow, Russia). In August 2001, he led the team on the acquisition of Industrial Insurance Company (now “Uralsib-Insurance”), which was insurance company in Russia at the time. In November 2001, Akhundov led the team on the acquisition of Autobank (the tenth place among retail banks in Russia). From July 2003, Fuad Akhundov headed the Working committee for the integration of Nikoil Group and the acquired Autobank. He was Chairman of the Committee for the Investment and Underwriting in the Autobank-Nikoil Financial Corporation. As the Chairman of investment Committee he was directly involved in the acquisition of Kopeyka, one of the largest Russian retail chains, by the Nikoil.

In summer 2003, he began negotiations with the shareholders of the Bank Uralsib, which held the TOP 5 in all-Russian rankings at the time. URALSIB had an extensive regional network, with over 300 branches in 80 cities of Russia. In November 2003, Nikoil Group acquired a 15% stake in URALSIB through a privatization auction held by the State Property Fund, and a few weeks later Fuad Akhundov closed a transaction for a 57% stake in the bank. Another 3.5% stake was purchased on the open market, and the share in the equity of Uralsib increased to 75 + 1%, which allowed to head the Management Board of the bank. In December 2003, Fuad Akhundov was appointed as the President and Chairman of the Management Board of the Bank URALSIB JSC.

From February 2004 to the end of 2005 he managed the merger of the Autobank-Nikoil FC and the Bank URALSIB. By the end of 2005, the consolidated URALSIB Financial Corporation increased its assets by almost 10 times, and took the 5th place in the DCM, also it was among the three leading private banks and asset management companies. The Uralsib FC entered the top five research teams according to the rating of Thompson-Extel and was the seventh among the banks engaged in the retail, and the tenth among the creditors of corporations in the Russian Federation.

In 2006, he founded and headed the United Capital Investment Group, served as a member of the Supervisory Board in the Silkroutefinancial Foundation (London, UK).

References

- The Board of Directors of CJSC Financial Corporation URALSIB http://www.uralsib.com/about/corporate_governance/board_of_directors/

- Руководство компании http://www.akkunpp.com/rukovodstvo-kompanii

- Гендиректор Росатома С. Кириенко провел переговоры с министром энергетики Турции Т. Йылдызом http://www.rosatom.ru/journalist/news/36c5720043408cde82b1e658732d9c8b

- Новым руководителем проектной компании АЭС "Аккую" станет Ахундов http://ria.ru/atomtec_news/20140313/999374092.html

- Исполняющим обязанности президента банка "УралСиб" назначен первый зампредседателя АКБ "Автобанк-НИКойл" Фуад Ахундов http://www.sostav.ru/news/2003/12/10/8/

- Новым руководителем проектной компании атомной станции «Аккую» с 1 апреля станет Фуад Ахундов http://novostienergetiki.ru/tag/fuad-axundov/

- Состав Совета директоров 2012г. – Фонд Просвещения МЕТА http://www.fpmeta.org/about/directors_committee/directors_committee_2012/

- Звон новых колоколов православного собора прозвучал над Баку - участие Ф.Н. Ахундова в церемонии http://www.donorsforum.ru/reports/zvon-novykh-kolokolov-pravoslavnogo-sobora-prozvuchal-nad-baku/

- Улучшение транспортной доступности – участие Ф.Н. Ахундова в церемонии http://er-krasnogorsk.ru/news/274.html

- Генеральный директор АО АЭС АККУЮ Фуад Ахундов встретился с членами Мерсинской экономической платформы http://www.akkunpp.com/generalnyj-direktor-ao-aes-akkuyu-fuad-akhundov-vstretilsya-s-chlenami-mersinskoj-ekonomicheskoj-platformy/update

- Генеральный директор АО АЭС АККУЮ встретился с представителями руководства провинции Мерсин (Турция) http://www.akkunpp.com/generalnyj-direktor-ao-aes-akkuyu-vstretilsya-s-predstavitelyami-rukovodstva-provintsii-mersin-turtsiya/update

- Генеральный директор АО АЭС АККУЮ встретился с мэром города Мерсин http://www.akkunpp.com/generalnyj-direktor-ao-aes-akkuyu-vstretilsya-s-merom-goroda-mersin/update

- Генеральный директор АО АЭС АККУЮ выступил на Международном форуме «АТОМЭКСПО 2014» http://www.akkunpp.com/generalnyj-direktor-ao-aes-akkuyu-vystupil-na-mezhdunarodnom-forume-atomekspo-2014/update