Binance Eastern Europe VP and Other Execs Announce Departure as Exchange Mulls Russian Exit

Binance Eastern Europe Vice President Gleb Kostarev and CIS Manager Vladimir Smerkis have announced their departure from the company as the exchange considers a possible exit from Russia.

Both executives resigned amid regulatory hurdles posed by global sanctions on Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. 

 Gleb Kostarev announced his departure today on Facebook reflecting on the journey so far and expressing his gratitude to friends, colleagues, and fellow executives for the journey so far. 

“Friends today is my last day in Binance. I am resigning as VP in charge of Eastern Europe, CIS, Turkey Australia, and New Zealand (I also quit APAC a few months ago). I would like to express my gratitude to CZ and He Yi for their trust and all the opportunities they have given me. Also, many thanks to my former colleagues for their professionalism and knowledge of best practices in the industry.” 

Binance exodus continues

Vladimir Smerkis, the director of the Commonwealth of Independent States, also announced his exit from the company on Sept 6.

In a Facebook post, Smerkis thanked Kostarev and other colleagues who made his time with the exchange memorable while promising to share the reason for his exit as well as other issues about his future shortly. 

“Well, that’s a wrap…Almost two years have passed like a moment and as of tomorrow, I don’t work for Binance anymore. This was so incredible. I know you and the media will have a lot of questions about the causes, the future, thoughts, and experiences, which I have gratefully received. I will be sure to share this with everyone.”

Binance has also recorded several big-name exits in recent months notable Mayur Kumat, head of product until Sept 4 and Patrick Hilman the exchange’s ex-chief strategy officer. 

 Kumat noted that it was time to hand the baton to the next generation of leaders after a couple of years at the company while thanking the team for making his time a success.

His resignation raised eyebrows as it came weeks after the “mass exodus” of executives after the departure of Hilman alongside the compliance officer and counsel. 

Defending the recent exits, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stated that the company will continue to build and hire new hands although many observers have pointed to regulatory issues as key reasons for the exits.

Some of our team members are growing into bigger roles, some outside of #Binance. Some are doing new exciting ventures. I even made intros/references for many of them. We are supportive of everyone. We are one community.

This also creates more growth opportunities within…

— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) September 6, 2023

Binance mulls Russian exit 

Last month, Binance announced delisting two Russian banks from its P2P services after the exchange was accused of violating global sanctions by offering services through sanctioned institutions. 

The company alongside Bybit and OKX delisted both sanctioned banks and weeks later a spokesperson of the company revealed that the company would be considering all options in the country including a full exit. 

🚨 @Bybit_Official and @okx followed @binance’s recent move and excluded Russian banks under international financial sanctions from their payment options. @tinkoff_bank and @sberbank will no longer be included on the peer-to-peer transactions list on these two exchanges.

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) August 28, 2023

Observers have noted that an exit from Russia would have a significant impact on the exchange as SimilarWeb data shows Russia tops web visits to Binance.com accounting for 6.3% of total visits.