Russia's Sistema appoints new CEO, recommends no 2021 dividend

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian conglomerate Sistema said on Monday that it has appointed Tagir Sitdekov as its new chief executive, replacing Vladimir Chirakhov who has been in the role for just over two years.

Chirakhov will now focus on his own projects and will join the boards of a number of Sistema's portfolio companies, Sistema said in a statement after an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders and its board which recommended no dividend payouts for 2021.

Sitdekov was managing partner responsible for Sistema's projects in various sectors, including healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Chirakhov has been CEO since April 2020.

Russian billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov in April gave up formal control of the Sistema conglomerate which he founded three decades ago by transferring a 10% stake to his son after Britain imposed sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.

Sistema, whose businesses span telecoms, technology, financial services, retail, paper, agriculture, real estate, tourism and medical services, said at the time the sanctions on Yevtushenkov were personal and did not target his companies.

The company said on Monday it decided to convene the annual general shareholders' meeting on Aug. 12 with absentee voting, recommending that it skips dividend payments for 2021 "in light of persistent high market volatility and the need to prioritize the corporation's financial resilience and liquidity".

The board elected Anna Belova as its chair, having taken over in an acting capacity after Vladimir Yevtushenkov left the post in April. She had been his deputy.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)