Russian Direct Investment Fund Announces Key Appointments

MOSCOW, September 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is pleased to announce the appointment of senior executives that together with the Chief Executive Officer will comprise the core investment and management team of the Fund.

Joining as Director are Alexei Chekunkov, Sean Glodek, Alec Maryanchik, Richard Ogdon and Tagir Sitdekov. Mikhail Irzhevsky joins as Chief Legal Counsel and Walid Kamhawi joins as Advisor. Each report to Kirill Dmitriev, Chief Executive Officer of RDIF.

Alexei Chekunkov brings a decade of private equity experience, having worked for Delta Private Equity in Russia and managed principal investments across Russia, Africa and Asia. Sean Glodek joins from Darby Private Equity, where he managed the Darby European Fund dedicated to equity and debt investments in companies across Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Turkey.

Prior to joining RDIF Alec Maryanchik was CEO and co-founder of Klever Asset Management, a leading private equity / family office fund in Russia. Richard Ogdon joins RDIF from leading Russian investment bank Troika Dialog, where he was Chief Risk and Capital Officer and a Member of the Management Board. Tagir Sitdekov was most recently a Managing Director at A-1, the direct investment arm of Alfa Group, Russia's largest private business group.

Mikhail Irzhesky joins RDIF on secondment from leading law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where he is Partner. Walid Kamhawi is partner at HK Advisory Services Limited, an investment management and advisory firm based in the Dubai that he co-founded after a 12-year career at Blackstone Group.

Kirill Dmitriev, Chief Executive Officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:

"These appointments represent an all-star team of Russian and international private equity professionals. Each brings to RDIF a hard-earned track record of successful investing in Russia as well stellar academic and other credentials.

"RDIF is now well-positioned to take advantage of the abundant investment opportunities available in Russia and to fulfill its mission of attracting co-investments, primarily from international private equity and sovereign wealth funds. The team has already identified and begun evaluating a substantial pipeline of potential transactions."

About the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)

The Russian Direct Investment Fund was established in June 2011. RDIF will be capitalized with approximately USD 10 billion in Russian government funds over the next five years and is charged with making equity investments that generate strong returns, primarily in Russia. In each investment it makes, RDIF is required to secure co-investment that at minimum matches its commitment, thus acting as a catalyst for direct investment into the Russian economy. Additional information at http://www.rdif.ru.