NDB Board of Governors appoints three Vice-Presidents

The Board of Governors of the New Development Bank (NDB) has appointed Mr. Vladimir Kazbekov, Mr. Qiangwu Zhou and Mr. Leslie Maasdorp as Vice-Presidents of the NDB from July 7, 2021.

Mr. Vladimir Kazbekov

Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer

Throughout his career, Mr. Kazbekov has gained extensive experience in the field of development finance. During 2015-2021, Mr. Vladimir Kazbekov served as Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer of the NDB. Prior to that, Mr. Kazbekov worked in several executive positions at the Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank) for more than 15 years. One of his greatest contributions was participation in the development of the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism, a scheme designed to provide financing and banking services for future investments among the national development banks of BRICS countries.

Prior to his appointment at Vnesheconombank, Mr. Kazbekov served as Deputy Director in the Foreign Policy Department of the Russian Presidential Executive Office. He has accumulated nearly 20 years of experience in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, predominantly in the Asian countries.

Mr. Qiangwu Zhou

Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer

Over the past 25 years, Mr. Qiangwu Zhou has had several senior positions in the public sector. Most recently, he served as a Director General level official in the Department of International Economic and Financial Cooperation in the Ministry of Finance (MOF) of China, while holding the positions of International Development Association (IDA) Deputy, and Council member for China in Global Environment Facility (GEF).

Prior to that, Mr. Zhou was Director General of the International Economic and Financial Institute (IEFI), MOF’s leading think tank on international economics and development for eight years. He was also assigned to work in the UN’s Administrative and Budgetary Committee, representing the Government of China during 1999-2002, and served as Advisor and then Senior Advisor to the Executive Director for China in the World Bank Group during 2008-2011.

Mr. Zhou has several publications on international economics. He holds a Master Degree from Peking University, China.

Mr. Leslie Maasdorp

Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer

Since 2015, Mr. Leslie Maasdorp has been serving as Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank.

Over the past 25 years, Mr. Leslie Maasdorp has occupied senior leadership roles in both the private and public sectors. He served as a Managing Director and President of Bank of America Merrill Lynch for Southern Africa for a period of four years. Prior to that he served in a dual role as Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital and Absa Capital. In 2002 he was the first African to be appointed as International Advisor to Goldman Sachs International.

Before his 13 years as a global investment banker, Mr. Maasdorp served in several senior leadership roles in the Government of South Africa.

Mr. Maasdorp holds a BA degree in Economics and Psychology from the University of the Western Cape and a Master of Science degree in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, at the University of London.