KOMMERSANT. First Czech-Russian Bank has to change its brand in an attempt to break the association with Russia and the Czech Republic in its corporate name, the newspaper wrote. According to the bank’s executive board chairman Roman Popov, recently the bank signed a rebranding agreement with consulting firm Dymshits and Partners. The reason behind the change is a letter with relevant recommendations from the Bank of Russia that the lending institution received last week. In its letter CBR quoted Article 1,473 of the Russian Civil Code that puts an obligation on all commercial organization to exclude from their corporate names any association with Russia or another country. Pursuant to this provision that took effect on January 1, 2008 a corporate name should be changed when making amendments to constituent documents for the first time. According to the official website of the Bank of Russia, amendments to First Czech-Russian Bank’s charter capital were agreed upon with the Territorial Directorate of the Central Bank of Russia in Moscow on July 8, 2008.
Expenses related to the elaboration of a new name will equal less than 10% of related costs that the bank will bear because of the forced rebranding, executive director of Dymshits and Partners Mikhail Ryumin is confident. According to Daria Guskova, consultant at advisory firm Interbrand, average expenses that relate to the change of a corporate name range from €15,000 to €100,000, so aggregate rebranding costs could amount to a million euros. For First Czech-Russian Bank the situation is aggravated by the fact that its name contains just two components that are under ban.
