At First Hand: What Has Happened in CBOSS?

Alexey Boyko

Last week, staff changes in CBOSS attracted the attention of telecoms market participants. The simultaneous dismissal of two Vice Presidents and subsequent resignation of the third one spread a lot of rumors and hearsay. What has really happened in the Company and what have the staff changes been caused by? We address these and other questions directly to CBOSS President Andrey Morozov.

MForum.ru, June 13, 2006

- What staff changes have taken place in the Company?

- Two Vice Presidents – Mr. Anyutin and Mr. Korneev – have been dismissed. This was done in full compliance with all the Company's regulations. The reason for their dismissal is that they showed no activity to carry out the strategic tasks of the Company.

What preceded this event? Moving towards the implementation of Statement 5 of CBOSS Mission, namely, towards equal opportunities, the Company conducted an internal tender for the most important current strategic tasks, specifically, those aimed to improve the Company’s management.

MForum’s reference:

Statement 5 of CBOSS Mission is 'Build a lawful meritocratic company of equal opportunities, which belongs to its employees. Contribute to the development of a civil society. Promote peace, fruitful collaboration, mutual understanding, and cultural exchange between the East and West'.

Meritocracy (Lat. meritus "worthy" and Greek kratos "power") – the power of the most talented, gifted and competent.

The Company matures, the volume of business increases, and the challenges become more demanding. The global market challenges presume the Company's competitiveness in the civilized sense. This imposes more stringent requirements to the quality of business management in the Company, in particular, to the development of a formalized management strategy.

CBOSS formulated the strategy based on the analysis of both internal and external factors. Within the strategy, the tasks to be solved in the near future were outlined. As a matter of fact, it is the classical strategic management – no more, no less – there is a long-term strategic goal, that is our mission, and nearer-term approved strategic goals, and finally – strategic tasks.

- Then why did the said guys not support the developed strategy?

- They did support it! The process of working out and accepting these strategic tasks followed all the classical canons, the tasks were agreed and approved by both the Company managers and shareholders, including those who no longer work for the Company. All of them took part in the two-month elaboration and discussion of the list of tasks, and then approved its final version. Once the list was finally accepted, we applied managerial economics by announcing the internal tender for the implementation of the strategic tasks. And at this very point, having signed the list on the whole and having realized that the tasks need to be solved, the guys did not undertake the management of the tasks, and, in fact, deliberately, responsibly, and purposely withdrew themselves from the process.

Having young and enthusiastic managers around them, the former top managers considered that these people would solve the tasks faced by the Company better than they would. Really they acted in the Company’s interest by delegating task implementation to those who best suit the role, while keeping the shareholder rights to themselves. It was their own choice, both to the Company’s advantage and their own benefit as shareholders. As for me, it only remained to accept their choice.

The company currently has four Vice Presidents (in 2005, there were five).

- Won’t the simultaneous dismissal of three top managers impact the Company’s operating activities?

- Of course, it shall! I expect the Company’s operating activities to improve. We give way up to young managers and have new opportunities, renovation and anti-stagnation. A number of employees enthusiastically accept the changes.

We keep improving the Company and its management to comply with the global market. We follow the theoretical and practical principles of the international business and creatively apply the best advances in international management. The management system is tailored to meet the market changes. For CBOSS, this process means growing mature.

- And to conclude the interview… We do know about CBOSS’s achievements in the global market – its contracts in Africa, the Near East and Asia. Yet we have heard almost nothing of the Company’s business activity in Russia. What are the reasons?

- As a result of telecom market consolidation in Russia, the market has narrowed and practically disappeared per se, I mean, as an open market, for it has pretty much closed. There is practically no market for Information Technologies for mobile communications in Russia. Decisions are made not in accordance with market rules and there are outrageous examples of it. Companies pay hundreds of millions of dollars for what they have already paid and lose billions in capitalization.

In CBOSS, we are not the proponents of business based on natural or artificial monopolies. We do not leverage on lobbyist ties. CBOSS is oriented to work in a free market. Unfortunately, I don’t know any major player on today’s telecoms market in Russia that would act according to the market laws. As soon as Russia restores a free telecoms market, CBOSS will, no doubt, lead on it.