Sberbank CIB

Igor Bulantsev, as Senior Vice President and Head of Sberbank CIB, oversees the entire corporate and investment banking platform, including its principal investment activities. He reports to German Gref, the long-time CEO of Sberbank. Investment committee structures are not publicly detailed, but Bulantsev has led the division since its formation in 2012.

Sberbank CIB operates as an integrated division of Sberbank of Russia, meaning its private equity capital is typically drawn directly from the parent's balance sheet. This gives it a merchant-banking profile — it can hold assets indefinitely, participate in restructurings, and combine principal capital with advisory mandates without the fixed-life constraints of a commingled fund.

Sberbank CIB's model is overwhelmingly direct deal-focused. It typically acquires significant or controlling stakes in Russian and CIS companies rather than acting as a limited partner in third-party funds. Its balance-sheet backing permits concentrated, single-transaction commitments that third-party fund vehicles often avoid.

Since 2022, Sberbank CIB has severed its European and North American institutional relationships and ceased cross-border dealmaking outside Russia and non-sanctioning nations. Its private equity team now focuses entirely on domestic assets, with co-investors limited to Russian entities and partners from China, India, and Middle Eastern states.

Before 2022, Sberbank CIB occasionally partnered with international co-investors on large Russian deals, but it typically acts as the lead or sole equity sponsor. In the current environment, co-investment partners are drawn from a narrow pool of domestic institutions and sovereign funds from non-sanctioning countries.