Russia

Ian Pryde – Founder & Chairman, ESC, Contributing Editor, Explaining Eurasia

• M.Phil., International Relations, University of Cambridge, UK
• M.Sc., International Securities, Investment and Banking, The ICMA Centre – The Business School for Financial Markets – Henley Business School, University of Reading, UK
• B.A., Politics & Modern History, University of Manchester, UK
• German Politics & Russian, University of Frankfurt, Germany
  • Including one-year scholarship from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (German Academic Exchange Service)
• First visited Moscow in 1986, spent over 20 years living and working in the USSR, Russia, Central Asia and Azerbaijan since the late 1980s
• Native fluency in Russian and German
• Began publishing on Russia and Central Asia in both English and Russian in the early 1990s
• Published numerous accurate forecasts on international politics, Russia, Central  Asia and business
• Has written on Russia for
  • RIA-Novosti
    • Ian’s weekly columns for the Opinion & Analysis rubric became one of the most visited sections of RIA Novosti’s English website, with many articles syndicated by Johnson’s Russia List, UPI and newspapers in Europe, Asia and North America.
  • Russia Beyond The Headlines
    • Ian’s regular Op-Ed columns were among the most popular on this English-language website
  • www.gazeta.ru (in Russian)
    • Gazeta.ru is one of the most popular Russian language news sources with over a million visitors daily
    • Ian’s articles regularly achieved large or near record numbers of hits, clicks and comments
  • Novaya Gazeta (Новая газета) (in Russian)
    • A popular Russian print and online newspaper
  • Economist Intelligence Unit, UK
  • Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Cambridge, UK
  • Business Monitor International Limited, London, UK
  • The Moscow Times
  • The Moscow Times Business Review
  • Russia Profile, Moscow
  • Russian Journal (Русский журнал), Moscow (in Russian)
    • This site was owned by former Kremlin advisor Gleb Pavlovsky
  • Trendline Russia (sponsored sections on the Russian economy which appeared in The Washington Post and The Daily Telegraph in London, November-December 2006
• Has written on Central Asia for
  • the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, UK
  • Journal of Democracy, Washington D.C.
  • Russia Profile, Moscow
  • Izvestiya (Известия), Moscow (in Russian)
  • Res Publica, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic (in Russian)
• Editor, English Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
  • an English version of Germany’s leading broadsheet published jointly by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the International Herald Tribune
• Consulting projects in Central Asia include:
  • PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers): Privatization, Strategic Investment and Capital Markets, USAID, Kyrgyz Republic;
  • Consultant to a Central Bank, Head of Project Maxwell Stamp LLC, EU TACIS, UK
• Corporate communications projects include
  • Russian Central Bank
  • Russian Railways, Russia’s 4th largest company by revenue and one of the largest transport companies in the world. Since 2004 (online as of February 2006). Russian Railways employs about 1 million people and in 2016 had a turnover of nearly EUR23 billion/$27 billion/1,577,500,000, 000 RUB.
  • Basic Element is one of Russia’s largest private companies and diversified industrial groups. It operates across six sectors: energy & mining, manufacturing, financial services (banking, insurance, pension funds & leasing), construction & real estate, agribusiness and airport management, as well as media and port management. It employs 200,000 people in Russia, the CIS, Africa, Australia, Asia, Europe and Latin America.
  • Rosneft Oil Company, Moscow
    • including work on Rosneft’s 2007 $10.7 bn IPO on the London Stock Exchange and on the Russian venues of RTS and MICEX in Moscow, the largest IPO to that date in Russia and the fifth largest in global financial history.
    • Rosneft’s turnover was $64.75 billion in 2016 fiscal. It had a market cap of $53 billion on the LSE as of August 2017.
  • International Information Department, YUKOS Oil Company, Moscow
  • Strategist to owner/chairman of a Moscow bank
• Author, Doing Business in Yemen, 2005, a 200-page guide
• Translated from the Russian and narrated at Moscow Film Studios The Great Silk Road, a documentary film by the Kyrgyz film producer Karadin Akmataliyev. Summer 1991

Roman Murashkovsky – Senior Advisor, Politics, International Business, Sport

• Served in the Kremlin as Presidential Advisor
• Member, Board of Directors, International Tennis Federation (ITF), the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis, 2009 to 2015
• Chairman of the ITF Seniors Committee
• Native Russian, fluent English
• Organized Round Tables on International Security between the US Congress and the Russian Duma after 9/11
• Senior International Advisor to the Russian Government on the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi
• Vice President of the Russian Tennis Federation
• International Advisor to Mayor Bloomberg and New York City’s Olympic Bid NYC2012
• Began advising the Soviet government in 1989
• Living and working between NYC and Moscow since 1991

Alexander (The Russian Rocket) Popov – Sport, Marketing & Sponsorship

• Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Sports Coaching, Russian Academy
• MBA, Moscow University Touro
• Trained at the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia, 1993-2002
• Native Russian, fluent English
• Member, Supervisory Committee, Russian Swimming Federation since 2017
• Member, IOC Evaluation Commission, 2016 Summer Olympics
• Member, IOC Marketing Commission, since 2009
• Honorary Member, International Olympic Committee, since 2016
• Full Member, International Olympic Committee, December 1999 – 2016
• Member, Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad Rio 2016, 2010-2016
• Honorary Secretary, Athletes Commission
• Member, Supervisory Board, Adidas, since May 2009
• Brand Ambassador, OMEGA Watches, Switzerland, since 1997
• Fastest swimmer in the world for 14 consecutive years
• World Record Holder in Men’s 50m Freestyle since 16 June, 2000: 21.64 seconds, Moscow
• 4 Olympic Gold Medals:
  • Men’s 50m and 100m freestyle, Barcelona Olympics, 1992
  • Men’s 50m and 100m freestyle, Atlanta Olympics, 1996
• 5 Olympic Silver Medals:
  • Men’s 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley, Barcelona Olympics, 1992
  • Men’s 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley, Atlanta Olympics, 1996
  • Men’s 100m freestyle, Sydney Olympics, 2000
• 6 Gold Medals, World Swimming Championships:
  • Men’s 50m and 100m freestyle, Rome, 1994
  • Men’s 100m freestyle, Perth, 1998
  • Men’s 50m and 100m freestyle, Men’s 4x100m relay, Barcelona, 2003
• 4 Silver Medals, World Swimming Championships
  • Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay, Men’s 4x100m medley relay, Rome, 1994
  • 50m freestyle, Perth, 1998
  • Men’s 4x100m medley relay, Barcelona, 2003
• 1 Bronze Medal, World Swimming Championships
  • Men’s 4x 100m freestyle relay, Perth, 1998
• 21 Gold, Medals, European Swimming Championships
• 3 Silver Medals, European Swimming Championships
• 2 Bronze Medals, European Swimming Championships
• Russia’s Flag-bearer, Opening Ceremony, Olympic Games, Athens, 2004
• Russia’s Flag-bearer, Opening Ceremony, Olympic Games, Barcelona, 1992
• Russian Medal of Honour for Contributions to Sport, 1996
• Athlete of the Year, Russia, 1996
• Athlete of the Year, European Sports Press Union, 1996

Shamil Tarpishchev (Шамиль Тарпищев) – Senior Advisor, Sport

• President of the Russian Tennis Federation
• Graduate, Russian State University of Physical Education, Sport, Youth and Tourism
• Native Russian, basic English
• Elected Full Member of the International Olympic Committee, December 1999
• Captain of the Soviet/Russian Davis Cup Team since 1974, set a record of 55 Davis Cup victories in May 2016
  • Davis Cup – winner of Davis Cup Championship 2002
• Captain of the Soviet/Russian Federation Cup Team to 2014, set a record of 37 Davis Cup victories
• Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation on Physical Culture and Sport and to the Mayor of Moscow (1997-)
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Kremlin Cup
• Winner of several international tournaments
• Member of the national Russian tennis team
• Member of the Davis Cup Team
• Wimbledon Quarter-Finalist
• Chef coach of the Central Council “Dinamo”
• Chairman of the National Sport Foundation of Russia, 1993-1995
• Chairman of the State Committee of Physical Culture and Tourism under the President of the Russian Federation, 1994-1996
• Chairman of the Coordination Committee of Physical Culture and Sport under the President of the Russian Federation, 1994-1996
• Chairman of the NOC Executive Board President of the All-Russia Tennis Association (1999-) and of the Russian Tennis Federation
• Member of the Council of Sport under the President of the Russian Federation, 2002-
• Recipient of the ITF (International Tennis Federation, the World Governing Body of Tennis) medal for the development of tennis; Elected Best coach 2003 of SLAVA nominations of sport
• Member of the IOC Radio and Television Commission, 1995-1999
• Led Soviet tennis players to 26 gold medals at the European Championships, 1974-1983

Andrei Blinov – Senior Advisor, Economics, Politics, International Relations

• D.Sc. Economics
• Member, Advisory Council on International Affairs to the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee
• Member, Advisory Council on the Development of Innovation Systems to the State Duma’s Committee on Science and High Technology
• Member, Advisory Council on Higher and Postgraduate Professional Education to the State Duma’s Education Committee
• Member, Advisory Council on Science to the State Duma’s Science Committee
• Member, Advisory Council to the State Duma’s Committee on Economic Policy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism
• Member, Committee on Business Regulation, Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI)
• Member, Committee on Managing Enterprise Chamber, of the Russian Federation
• Head, Expert Consulting Group on Small Business, Committee for the Development of Private Entrepreneurship and Small and Medium Business, RCCI
• Member, Russian Academy of Social Sciences
• Member, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
• Member, New Economic Association
• Cited in the Russian directories Who’s Who in Russia, Russia’s Intellectual Elite and People in Modern Russia and the National Register of Experts to Assess the Quality of Education
• Consultant, Analytical Center of the Federation Council’s Secretariat
• Lead Specialist, State Committee on Antimonopoly Policy and Support of Entrepreneurship
• Senior Specialist, State Committee on the Support and Development of Small Business
• Director, Center for Regional Business Policy, Council for the Study of Productive Forces, a research institute at the Russian Academy of Science and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Russia Council for the Study of Productive Forces (SOPS)
• Vice-Rector, State Academy of Construction and Housing
• Professor of Management, All-Russian Distance Institute of Finance and Economics (ARDIFE)
• Professor, Faculty of Management at the Russian Academy of State Service under the President of Russia
• Professor, Department of the Sociology of Organization and Management, Moscow State University
• Professor, Faculty of Business and Management Strategy, Institute of Business Studies, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow
• Professor of Public Administration and Management, Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
• Head, Department of Management, Moscow Open Social University
• Head, Department of Public Administration, Business Management
• Co-author of the main provisions for state support to small businesses at federal, regional and municipal levels
• Consulting projects for a number of regional governments
• Coaching for various corporate clients
• Co-author of regulations for developing SMEs in Russia
• Training for various municipalities
• Awards: Silver Medal Exhibition for Economic Achievements, Peter I Medal For the Revival of Science and Economics, Medal of Honour for Contributions to Russia’s Economy
• Published books on economics, management, HR management and training, entrepreneurship, corporate law, management consulting
• Published nearly 600 academic papers in Russia and abroad, including on business reengineering, management theory, management consulting and Russia’s higher educational system

Andrei Kolesnikov – Russian Politics, International Relations

• LL.M., Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
• Native Russian, fluent English, French, Polish
• Regular contributor to leading Russian print and online newspapers such as Vedomosti, Gazeta.ru and Forbes.ru
• Managing Editor, Novaya Gazeta, Moscow, Russia
• Deputy Editor in Chief, Izvestia, Moscow, Russia
• Deputy Editor in Chief, The New Times
• Editor-in-Chief, Humanitarian Context, Moscow, Russia
• Senior Editor, RIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia
• Deputy Editor, Editor of Economics Section, Editor of Politics Section, Political Commentator, Izvestiya, Moscow, Russia
• Senior Associate & Chair, Russian Domestic Politics & Political Institutions Program, Carnegie, Moscow Center
• Member of the Board, Yegor Gaidar Foundation
• Member of the Committee of Civil Initiatives (the Alexei Kudrin Committee).
• Political commentator, Russian News (Rossiiskie Vesti)
• Political commentator of the program “Man & Society” produced by the Moscow bureau of Radio Liberty
• Columnist, Ogonyok, The New Times, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Moscow, Russia
• Frequent commentator on Russian TV and radio
• Convenor the Economic Discussion Club, FBK/PKF Consulting
• Head of PR & GR, FBK/PKF Consulting, Moscow, Russia
• PR and GR consultant to a number of Russian corporate structures
• PR consultant and speechwriter to a number of Russian politicians
• Advisor to the Minister of Justice
• Worked in the Criminal Chamber of the Russian Supreme Court
• Awarded the Golden Pen of Russia of the Union of Journalists (2008)
• Recipient of the Adam Smith Award, the Economic Institute of the Transitional Period (2000)
• Federal Press Agency Award

Tanya Korotkova – Economics Editor, Moscow

• BSc Economics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
• Bilingual in Russian and Czech, good English
• Senior Editor, RIA Novosti, Moscow, Russia
• Extensive experience as Editor and Journalist at major Russian newspapers such as Kommersant

Dmitri Batalov – Senior Advisor, Finance, Energy, Politics

• Ph.D. Economics, Academy of Russian Economy (ANH), Moscow. Research Topic: Russian Oil & Gas
• M.A. in Political Science, Moscow State University of International Relations (MGIMO), Moscow
• M.B.A. with concentration in Finance, Marist College, New York, USA
• B.S. in Business Administration and Accounting, Marist College, New York, USA
• Native Russian, fluent English
• Vice President, National Business Bank Co. Ltd., Moscow
• Carried out company valuation and advisory at Arthur Andersen and KPMG, including clients such as TNK/BP, RAO UES, AvtoVAZ

Dominic Rubin – Politics, Religion

• Ph.D. in Theoretical Linguistics, School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, UK
• B.A. in History and Hebrew, University of Oxford, UK
• Fluent in Russian, French and Hebrew, good Arabic
• Expert on Philosophy, Politics, Religion, Intellectual History
• Books:
  • Russia’s Muslim Heartlands: Islam in the Putin Era, 2017
  • The Life and Thought of Lev Karsavin: “Strength made perfect in weakness…” published in the series On the Boundary of Two Worlds, 2013
    • “Very thorough. Rubin’s book is an admirable contribution to the scholarly literature on Russian religious philosophy,” The Russian Review, Vol. 72, No. 4, October 2013
  • Holy Russia, Sacred Israel: Jewish-Christian Encounters in Russian Religious Thought (Reference Library of Jewish Intellectual History), 2010
    • “Dominic Rubin’s Holy Russia, Sacred Israel is a formidable and profoundly impressive piece of research, which needed to be done, and I was very glad to see it. It is a major piece of work.” Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
• Lecturer at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, USA,
• Lecturer at Higher School of Economics, Moscow (ГУ-ВШЭ)
• Lecturer in Linguistics at London and Cambridge Universities
• Corporate Communications for UNIASTRUM, one of Russia’s leading retail and investment banks, and other major Russian companies
• Script Editing and Translation for one of Russia’s national TV channels

Maria Tinkova – Communications, PR, Project and Event Management

• M.A. in Communicational Syntax and Pragmatics, Linguistics, Moscow State University
• Training in Financial Services (Financial Advisor), Sociology Faculty, Moscow State University
• Training in Sales, Sales Training International, Moscow
• Training in Negotiating in English, Moscow University Touro
• Native Russian, fluent English, reasonable German
• Deputy Head of Department, Expatriate VIP Services, Uniastrum Bank
  • work with key clients, partners and media
  • research of the financial services market for expatriates in Russia
  • investigation and implementation of the product line of the Bank’s services
  • liaising with other departments at Uniastrum Bank
  • joint organizer of key events, including conferences, opening new departments and training courses sponsored by Uniastrum Bank
  • writing departmental budget
  • control and writing of advertising media plans
  • writing material for Uniastrum Bank’s website
• Special Projects Manager, Commercial Department, Channel One Russia (Первый канал), one of Russia’s leading TV stations with over 250 million viewers worldwide
  • Product placement in movies, series, shows and programmes produced and financed by Russia’s Channel One television company, including
    • hit films such as Nochnoi Dozor, Turyetski Gambit, Dve Subdy-2, Glubina, Krasnaya Voda
    • major TV series such as Vremena with Vladimir Pozner, Good Morning, Fabrika Zvezd
    • cross promo, sponsorship and special projects, such as film releases and film festivals, presentations and promotion campaign of popular Russian singer and actress Zhanna Friske
    • liaised and built communications with leading production companies, advertising agencies and marketing departments, including SAB Miller, Baltika, Siemens, Samsung, Renault, Cosmopolitan, Avtovaz, Sibneft, Mars, Pepsico, Wimm Bill Dann, Russkoye More, Reckitt Benckiser, Ingosstrakh, McDonald’s, Sony, Korkunov, Smart Communications, ArtCom, ZenithOptimedia, RAVI, Video International and others
    • wrote commercial proposals, budget planning; copy writing; integrating brands into the scripts of movies and TV programmes
• Head of Russian as a Foreign Language Department, Language Link International language school

Natasha Strelkova – Project Management, Sport, PR, Marketing, Event Marketing, Advertising

• B.A. in Business Management, Moscow University Touro
• Vienna International School, Austria 1989-1997
• Native Russian, excellent English, basic German
• Assistant to Board, Russian Beeline brand of VimpelCom (now Veon), a global provider of telecommunication services, including representation at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland
• Director of Advertising & Marketing, “Diamonds and Gold of Russia,” a monthly trade magazine
• PR Manager at Olympic Star, Russia’s largest chain of fitness centres
• Advertising and PR, 2006 Winter Olympic Games, Turin
• Project Director, International Marathon to cross the Indian Ocean
  • Organised Sponsoring, PR and Media Support in Moscow and Perth, Australia
  • Organised press conferences in Moscow and Perth, Australia
  • Designed advertising product
  • Interviews with leading TV and Radio Stations, Australia

Olga Dogel – Retail & Wholesale

• Graduated in Finance and Credit, Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics, Moscow, Russia
• Native Russian, fluent German and English
• Represented and launched numerous foreign companies and brands on the Russian market
• Developed retail and wholesale networks and systems in Russia and CIS

Sergei Ginzburg – Senior Advisor, Insurance, Finance, Law, Real Estate

• LL.B., University of Sydney, Australia
• B.Com., University of Sydney, Australia
• Bilingual in English and Russian
• Head of D&O Department, Allianz, Moscow
• Executive on-site Residential Marketing/Financial Consultant at Meriton Apartments Propriety Limited, Sydney, Australia, the largest developer of residential apartments in Australia
• Worked in Commercial and Residential Real Estate in Moscow

Sofia Pevsner – PR and Event Marketing

• Communication Major, concentration in Media Studies, Pace University, New York, NY and Webster University, Vienna, Austria
• B.A. in Business Management, Moscow University Touro
• International Baccalaureate, DIS Diploma, Danube International School, Vienna, Austria
• Native Russian, near native English and German
• Extensive experience in PR and Event Organising in the United States, Russia and Austria, including:
  • Public Relations Department, TSUM Trading House Moscow, Russia.
    • Organized PR events at TSUM, including close cooperation with major magazines, including Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour;
  • Full Picture PR, New York City:
    • PR, production & management aspects of the fashion, lifestyle & entertainment industry with responsibility for guest lists and celebrity liaison for events with clients including supermodels Heidi Klum and Karolina Kourkova, Ian Schrager Hotels, K-Mart, Hard Rock Hotel Las Vegas and Victoria’s Secret;
  • New Age Entertainment LLС, New York City
    • jointly organized and promoted shows at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City and Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center NYC;
    • coordinated promotion and media coverage
    • events were attended by more than 10,000 people

Tatyana Pokrovskaya – Corporate Communications, PR, Events, Films

• B.A. in Business Management, Moscow University Touro, Russia
• Communication and Media Studies, University of Leeds, UK
• Lived and studied in Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom
• Native Russian, excellent English
• Production Management, DV Talent, London, UK
• Z1 Shooting and Directing in DV and HDV, DV Talent, London, UK
• Internship, Russian Channel 3 – TVZ, all aspects of television news production including story development, traffic, production, post-production, budgeting, planning and advertising
• Producer, CTC-Media Network, Moscow, one of Russia’s s leading commercial TV stations
  • Produced variety/game shows including the Russian version of Freemantle Media’s “Thank God You Are Here” for CTC-Media (National Broadcast. Moscow, Russia), one of the top commercial networks in Russia.
• Product Development and Acquisition Research, CTC-Media Network, Moscow, Russia
  • Responsible for researching and developing potential acquisitions for network executives.
• Writer/Producer of Children’s Edutainment Pilot and 2 Episodes Ages 5-7, Moscow, Russia
• Coordinator/Assistant Stage Director, Production Company Kinoconstanta, Moscow, Russia
• Assistant to Executive Producer, CTC-Media, Moscow, Russia
• Assistant Account Manager, Armi Advertising and PR Agency
• Creative Designer Collateral Materials – Beautiful Memorials

Felix Ilyinikh – Sound, Music, Composition, Arrangements, Corporate Videos, Moscow

• Multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, producer, singer
• Winner of Russia’s prestigious television TEFI (ТЭФИ) award, the Russian Emmy, from the Russian Academy of Television for Best Sound Engineer 2006 for the TV New Year special Первый Скорый, broadcast on 31 December 2005-1 January 2006
• Vocals on White Snow (Белый снег), the closing song of the prize-winning Russian film The State Counsellor (Статский советник, although the pre-Revolutionary orthography Статскiй совѣтникъ was used in the film’s promotional material). 2006
  • The film is based on the novel by the Moscow-based Georgian/Jewish writer Grigory Chkhartishvili, who writes under the pseudonym Boris Akunin
• Music for numerous TV adverts for the Russian market, including products by Nestlé, and Russian products such as Okskoe Beer, a regional Russian brand owned by Heineken
• Conductor, studio band on the TV show Spring with Ivan Urgant (Весна с Иваном Ургантом), Channel One Russia (Первый канал), which has over 250 million viewers worldwide. 2006
• Music arranger on numerous programmes for Channel One Russia (Первый канал), which has over 250 million viewers worldwide
  • Театр эстрады, 2014-2015
  • Repeat! (Повтори!), 2013-2014
  • Nasty’s Show (шоу «Настя» Анастасии Заворотнюк) of the leading Russian actress and TV presenter Anastasia Zavorotnyuk, 2012
  • Yesterday Live, 2010-2013, a satirical Russian show
  • Prozhektorperiskhilton (Прожекторперисхилтон), a satirical Russian show, 2008-2012
  • Мульт личности, 4 seasons 2009 – 2013, a political satire programme using CGI puppets
  • TV New Year special, Первый дома, broadcast 31 December 2006-1 January 2007
  • TV New Year special Первый Скорый, broadcast 31 December 2005-1 January 2006
  • TV New Year specials Старые песни о главном 1-4, 1995-1999
• Regular TV appearances with Russian celebrities
• Keyboard player and arranger for Oleg Gazmanov, one of Russia’s leading pop singers
• Lead Guitarist for Yuri Loza, one of Russia’s leading singer-songwriters