The shareholders of the Bank of Cyprus allocated six seats on the bank’s board of directors to Russian citizens. The businessmen from Russia have already taken their positions on the board, alongside 10 other board members. The board members selected are Anzhelika Anshakova, Dmitry Chichikashvili, Eriskhan Kurazov, Igor Lozhevsky, Vladimir Strzhalkovsky, and Anton Smetanin. Dmitry Chichikashvili, who is the president of the Insigma construction company in Moscow, became the chairman of the board of the Bank of Cyprus. Vladimir Strzhalkovsky was chosen as his deputy. Earlier in 2013, the Bank of Cyprus froze its clients’ deposits as part of the framework agreed on to rescue the country’s financial system. The bank also merged with Laiki Bank, which was Cyprus’ second biggest lending institution.