Tallinn, Estonia, 10 September 2026 – Wallester AS, an Estonian-licensed payment institution and Visa Principal Member, has appointed its Chief Technology Officer, Andrei Gornostajev, and Chief Risk Officer, Rein Ojavere, to its Management Board, effective 1 September 2026. In parallel, the company has formally assigned Management Board member Fred Sooläte responsibility for anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing and international sanctions compliance. Together, these changes provide the five-member Management Board with direct representation in technology, risk, compliance, and AML.
“As Wallester grows, the structure of the company needs to grow with it. Our Management Board now represents technology, risk, compliance and AML directly. That changes how decisions get made: the right expertise sits in the room earlier, and responsibilities are clearer across the business.”
Sergei Astafjev, CEO, Wallester
Andrei Gornostajev, Chief Technology Officer
Andrei Gornostajev joins the Management Board with responsibility for technology and R&D. He was part of the team that built Wallester’s Visa card issuing platform from the ground up in 2017 and returned as CTO in January 2024. His career includes senior engineering roles at Microsoft, and he now leads Wallester’s 70+ person R&D organisation spanning technology, product and design.
“As Wallester scaled, reliability, security and compliance developed into increasingly specialised engineering and governance disciplines. That evolution is also why decisions about providers, cloud infrastructure and key technology partners can become board-level concerns. That is why technology increasingly needs a seat at the table, and that is how I see my role on the Management Board.”
Andrei Gornostajev, CTO, Wallester
Fred Sooläte, Chief AML Officer
Fred Sooläte joined Wallester in 2020 as Chief Compliance Officer, leading the company’s anti-money laundering, counter-terrorist financing and sanctions compliance work. In May 2021, he was appointed to the Management Board, holding statutory responsibility for that area until September 2023. He resumed the remit from 1 September 2026 and also holds responsibility for Legal and data protection.
“Wallester today is a bigger and more complex business than when I first took this on – more products, more partners, a broader footprint. My task is to ensure that our AML framework continues to develop alongside the company’s growth. Having helped build much of it gives me the context to do that quickly.”
Fred Sooläte, Chief AML Officer, Wallester
Sooläte is a trained lawyer with experience across legal, compliance and risk roles in financial institutions. He has led much of Wallester’s regulatory groundwork, including its cross-border passporting and AML/CFT framework.
Rein Ojavere, Chief Risk Officer
Rein Ojavere joined Wallester in May 2025 to lead the enterprise-wide risk management function. As CRO, he holds executive responsibility for the second line of defence, including compliance, risk management, information security governance, and the MLRO function within compliance.
“Unifying risk, compliance and information security under one board seat breaks down operational silos. In practice, this means unified oversight, synchronised reporting and streamlined processes – allowing us to move faster while bringing more depth and quality to our overall risk management framework.”
Rein Ojavere, CRO, Wallester
Ojavere brings more than two decades in financial services, including board-level roles at Bondora and Finora Bank. He holds the CFA charter and the Financial Risk Manager certification.