Raising Capital — New Opportunities for Regional Companies

He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and as a Chartered Tax Adviser with Arthur Andersen and is a tax and financial planning specialist. He was a partner in Arthur Andersen from 1989 to 2002, heading their Private Client Practice for over a decade. Since 2002 he has been a partner with Grant Thornton UK LLP, specialising in the tax affairs of professional partnerships and their partners, professional Institutions and Charities, as well as internationally mobile executives. His client base has included many global partnerships.

Ian has always been interested in tax policy issues and served on the Council of the Chartered Institute of Taxation from 1983 to 1997. He had a period chairing its Technical Committee, which is responsible for the formulation of technical representations to Government, and was President in 1994-95, the year it was awarded its Royal Charter.

As Lord Mayor, Alderman Luder will have a wide variety of civic, livery and charitable events in addition to promoting the Square Mile as the world?s leading international financial and business centre; his special project will be sponsoring the spread of financial literacy.

Mr. Edwards is a frequent traveller to Russia, Kazakhstan and Ukraine and has also organized conferences in London to promote CIS companies to the investor community in the UK.

Mr. Edwards studied at Columbia University where he received his BA degree in Russian studies and joint JD/MBA degree in business and law. He joined the London Stock Exchange in August 2003, before which he worked on private equity transactions for Incepta Ventures UK Limited, Delta Capital and BNP-Invest. Mr. Edwards has more than ten years of experience working with CIS companies in the natural resources, consumer products, real estate and TMT sectors.

From the beginning of his carrier in 2000 Anton worked on various projects in a number of blue chip advisories and financial institutions such as Baker & McKenzie, Euler Hermes and Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer. He regularly comments CIS investment practices and published in Russian and global professional media.

Anton graduated from a law school of St. Petersburg State University and holds an MBA in Finance from Nottingham University Business School.

In her current position, Mrs Petrov is responsible for development and monitoring of business in 11 Russian regions. The current EBRD portfolio in the NWFD includes 42 projects with an outstanding amount of EUR 726 million and project pipeline of over EUR 600 million.

Mrs Petrov graduated from Moscow State University in 1992. She is a member of Supervisory Board of two Russian banks and one insurance company.

The EBRD is the largest single investor in the region and mobilizes significant foreign direct investments beyond its own financing. Since its creation, the EBRD has approved its participation in more than 2,500 projects/companies for a total amount of more than 42 billion Euros, including 11.2 billion Euro in Russia. As such, today it is the largest foreign source of investment in the country and with the most diversified portfolio of investments.

Mrs. Novikova focuses on development of strategies of internationalization for Russian companies. One aspect of her work is coordination of project-teams which facilitates internal business-processes restructuring of client?s companies in order to cope the public company?s standards.

Mrs. Novikova majored in Economics and specialized in International Business. She is fluent in English. Mrs. Novikova has been working in consulting business since 1998. In 2005 she become a Head of Financial Analysis and Communal Network?s Tariffs Expertise department with Uralaudit one of the audit and consulting leader in Ural region. Mrs. Novikova successfully defended her scientific degree in 2007. Her work was devoted to the process of formation strategies of internationalization for Russian companies. She has joined the Finance group in 2009 as the Director of Corporate Finance department.

After one year The World Bank training Course of the Market Economy, based on The Joint Vienna Institute (Vienne), in the 1994 he joined The MICEX group (Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange). Gennady run the way from the Leading Economist to the Deputy General Director-Member of Executive Board of the MICEX Stock Exchange.

In recent years Gennady Margolit takes up a position of the Vice-president of the MICEX.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Elshin has organized the first issues of public-debt instruments for dozens of well-known Russian companies such as Baltimor, Alrosa, PIK, OGO, Razguliay, Inkom-Avto and others. In 2006, Mr. Elshin managed a strategic consulting group from Oxford University on the London Stock Exchange. Currently, Mr. Elshin heads the Russian AIM project and prepares Russian companies for IPO on the AIM.

Mr. Elshin graduated from the Moscow-based Mendeelev Chemical-Technological Institute and holds degrees from Moscow State Law Academy, Stockholm School of Economics and Oxford University (MBA).

Sergey has 6 years of solid professional experience including participation in private equity placements of companies in various sectors, M&A projects, coordination and execution of initial public offerings on Russian and foreign stock exchanges, search for strategic and portfolio equity investors in Russian companies.

Selected examples of transactions include pre-IPO private placement of Inkom-Avto, sale of stake in Eurasia Gold, participation in the IPO of Rosneft, Razgulay Group and Cherkizovo as well as organization of landmark IPO of Mechel preferred shares on Deutsche Borse.

Sergey's track record also includes coordination and execution of IPO's and M&A deals in corporate finance at Uralsib, IR activity in Mechel, organization of GDRs for Russian issuers in The Bank of New York. Sergey has a bachelor degree in economics and finance, Carleton University (Canada, 2003).