The PBN Company’s already impressive Moscow team has gotten even more so with the addition of five new top managers, senior strategists and communications specialists. A growing client list and expansion into new practice areas prompted PBN to add to our 35-person Moscow outpost — the largest of the firm’s seven global offices.

The new recruits start with Vladimir Berezansky, who joins the firm as Vice President and Deputy Managing Director of the Moscow office. Vlad comes to PBN from MDM Financial Group, where he was Director of International Legal & Compliance. He has more than a decade of experience in Russia as a commercial-transactional attorney, with expertise in direct and portfolio investment opportunities, the legal restructuring of Russian companies, corporate governance and regulatory compliance, and negotiating and structuring cross-border investment agreements.

Next is Anton Niskin, PBN’s new Vice President for Corporate Reputation Management. He will direct the Moscow office’s financial communications practice, among other responsibilities. Anton is a pioneer of Moscow’s burgeoning strategic communications industry, having been a partner at Mikhailov & Partners, the leading Russian PR firm; communications vice president and board member at Aton Capital, a major Russian investment bank; and the head of communications at Russia’s power market operator.

Both Vlad and Anton are long-time professional and personal friends of PBN partners Peter Necarsulmer, Susan Thurman and Tom Thomson. Meanwhile, a former PBN client is now the firm’s newest Senior Account Manager.

Vadim Bely, former press secretary for Dmitry Vasiliev and Igor Kostikov, the first two chairmen of the Russian Federal Commission for the Securities Market (FCSM), is now part of PBN’s growing financial communications practice group. More recently, Vadim oversaw the FCSM’s World Bank-funded public affairs programs managed by PBN. Vadim has also worked at top PR agencies, Burson Marsteller and Mikhailov & Partners, where he advised a broad range of clients, including Norilsk Nickel, the RF Ministry of Labor and Social Policy on pension reform, the RF Ministry of Health on disease prevention, and the FCSM on Russia’s capital markets.

Now advising PBN and our clients on Russian government and political developments is Slava Nikonov, a prominent and influential Russian political strategist, author and professor. He is President of both the "Polity Foundation" and the "Unity for Russia" Foundation, an arm of Russia’s dominant political party, Edinaya Rossia. In addition to more than 500 articles and books on Russian government and politics, Slava has written several books on U.S. Republican Presidents Eisenhower, Nixon and Reagan.

PBN•Moscow’s research and analytical capacity has taken a big step forward with the addition of Alexander Utochkin. Anyone who has seen one of Alexander’s market research reports knows that he is a tremendous asset to both PBN and our clients. His expertise is in fast-moving consumer goods, retailing, financial services, oil and gas, aviation and transportation, as well as macroeconomics and industrial development. Alexander is author of The Economic Overview, a regular forecast of major economic trends in Russia, and Russia’s Top 100 Consumer Companies, published last year by IRG.

"The depth and breadth of these new additions demonstrates our commitment to meet the growing demands of clients old and new," says PBN’s Chairman & CEO Peter B. Necarsulmer. "We are ensuring that new clients of the firm like Alfa Capital, Boeing, Intel, Renaissance Capital and Wal-Mart receive the excellent results, strategic counsel and service for which PBN is known."

In this edition of Access PBN, we invite you to meet the newest members of the PBN•Moscow team. We’ve also highlighted some PBN stalwarts who have made our Moscow office the vibrant place it’s been for nearly 14 years. Finally, we have provided some insight into two of the Moscow office’s key departments — our government affairs team and our interactive media gurus.