Fortis appoints Maarten Pronk Country Manager for Russia

Fortis announced today that it has appointed Maarten Pronk Country Manager for Russia, with the objective of developing further Fortis's existing presence in the Russian market.

 

Fortis already carries out Merchant Banking and Trust activities in Russia. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Russia has enormous growth potential for both banking and insurance, and is a natural and promising market, given Fortis's international growth strategy.

 

Maarten Pronk (51), was born in Paramaribo (Surinam) and has Dutch nationality. He holds a masters degree in human geography from the University of Utrecht (NL). He is fluent in Russian as well as six other languages. Before taking up residence in Russia in 1994, Maarten Pronk was based mainly in South America, working for NMB Bank and ING. In Russia, he set up ING Bank's operations in Moscow and was acting Chairman of the Management Board of Nikoil Bank (one of the top-20 financial institutions). Immediately prior to joining Fortis, Maarten Pronk was Country Manager for Rabobank in Russia.

 

Alongside its Trust activities, Fortis has been expanding its Merchant Banking operations in Russia since 2003, focusing on its strong niches such as Energy, Commodities and Transport while at the same time building export and project finance capabilities. Fortis Insurance International has a small specialist team in Moscow and is evaluating and preparing for rollout in the Russian insurance sector.

 

Fortis is an international financial services provider engaged in banking and insurance. We offer our personal, business and institutional customers a comprehensive package of products and services through our own channels, in collaboration with intermediaries and through other distribution partners. With a market capitalisation of EUR 37 billion (31/05/2006), Fortis ranks among the twenty largest financial institutions in Europe. Our sound solvency position, our presence in 50 countries and our dedicated, professional workforce of 58,000 enable us to combine global strength with local flexibility and provide our clients with optimum support. More information is available on www.fortis.com