The president and main owner of Russia’s premier brokerage house Troika Dialog Ruben Vardanyan will keep his 2004 promise to pay $10 million to company’s staff once its value exceeds $1 billion.

This week 900 of Troika’s staff members — from top managers to drivers and custodians — will receive $20 million from Vardanyan, Vedomosti business daily reported on Tuesday, April 24.

A “special bonus money pool” for the staff was announced at the annual meeting in 2004. One of the conditions was the growth of Troika’s capitalization to $1 billion. This goal has been achieved — according to Vardanyan, Troika’s capital has reached $500 million. At present time Russian investment banks are valued on average at four times their capital. This means that Troika costs about $2 billion, the paper reported. Vardanyan has already refused several offers to sell the company for $2.5-3 billion.

Vardanyan, who has been named Russia’s 62nd richest man by Forbes magazine this year, will pay the money out of his own pocket. His fortune is estimated at $980 million. $10 million will be distributed between all of Troika’s staff members in equal share, while another $10 million will be divided according to the length of service in the company. On average each staff member will receive slightly more than $20,000.

Managing company Troika Dialog was established in 1991. In 2006 its turnover equaled $160 billion, while the value of managed assets reached $3.5 billion. The company’s net profit equaled $200 million last year. The group is owned by more than 70 managers headed by Vardanyan, whose stake equals to 65 percent.

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