Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 8 / Trend A. Akhundov /
Michael Hoffmann has been appointed new chairman of the board of the Azerbaijani Accessbank, by replacing Andrew Pospielovsky.
The bank has many opportunities to develop successfully on the Azerbaijani market, Hoffmann told media on Thursday.
"I am very pleased to take on the responsibility for AccessBank management," he said. "The bank holds a stable position in the rapidly growing market. I am confident we have every opportunity for the successful development of our bank in Azerbaijan for the next years."
Earlier, Hoffmann has worked at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and headed the EBRD office in the Volga Federal District since 2005. He was solely responsible for the development of new business areas covering large corporations, customers of the private sector and regional banks.
Hoffmann began his career in 1996 at HSH Nordbank AG, one of the top 10 banks in Germany, where he was responsible for the development of the banking business in the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) and was the head of the representative office in Tallinn. During his time he ensured the lending of large corporate and financial institutions from the Baltic countries and Scandinavia.
Hoffmann was also a member of the board of GM-AvtoVAZ directors (2008-2012), a joint venture of General Motors and AvtoVAZ in Togliatti, producing Chevrolet Niva cars. Hoffmann has a master's degree in Business Administration from Chicago University, Booth School of Business and a diploma in economics from Kiel University. He also studied political science and Slavic languages at the University of Münster. Hoffmann is an ethnic German. He speaks fluent English and Russian.
AccessBank is wholly owned by six international shareholders consisting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, KfW Development Bank - the Development Bank of the German Government, Access Microfinance Holding AG, a strategic investor in the microfinance industry and LFS Financial Systems GmbH a German consulting company.