Ruben Dishdishyan, president and founder of Central Partnership, one of Russia’s largest independent film production and distribution companies, has officially stepped down, the company has confirmed.

No official reason was given for his departure.

Mark Lolo, a former CEO of Central Partnership Sales House, will become Dishdishyan’s successor as president of the company. 

Russian analysts said that there might be several reasons for Dishdishyan’s resignation, one of which is a disagreement with the shareholders of Profmedia, which holds 74.55% stake in the company.

According to Roman Korneev, editor of Russian Kinokadr magazine, and of the leading analysts of the Russian movie industry, one of the reasons of Dishdishyan’s resignation could be associated with the unsuccessful partnership (started in January 2009) between Central Partnership with Paramount Pictures International.

“There is a possibility that Paramount had plans to establish its own distribution unit in Russia with the help of Central Partnership, however, two years after the start of their cooperation, this has never happened,” Korneev said.

At the same time, according to Nina Romodanovsky, chief editor of Russian Proficinema magazine, the former top manager will not completely leave the company, remaining its shareholder (25.45%) who will likely continue to have some impact on the business.

“Mark Lolo is more suited for the role of CEO of Central Partnership, being a project manager, unlike Dishdishyan, who in recent years has focused more on producing activities. Now the question is who will be appointed as president of Central Partnership Sales House,” Romodanovskaya said.

Lolo has already promised about the company’s plans to accelerate activities in the field of an increase volume of high-quality content and to develop new distribution channels.

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