OREANDA-NEWS. December 12, 2007. CentreInvest Group (CIG), an independent Russian investment banking group, announced that Dmitry Popov had been appointed as its new Head of Investment Banking. His responsibilities will include strategic development and the implementation of Investment Banking services, which include a wide range of IPO and private equity, mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, and debt financing services. Mr.Popov will work closely with Investment Banking Managing Director Vakhtang Khoutsishvili.

"Investment banking is one of the key disciplines we wish to expand," said Alexei Gurin, chairman of the board and CEO of CentreInvest Group. "As we develop and refine our business model, we are assembling a formidable team of top experts to ensure the success of each of our business units, and I believe Dmitry Popov is the ideal choice to lead investment banking."

Dmitry Popov is a financial expert with 12-years of operational experience, specializing in mergers and acquisitions. His project portfolio includes consulting recommendations for prominent companies including Rosneft, Evraz Group, Gazprom, RAO EES.

Mr. Popov has held various managing positions in Russian and foreign companies. He has worked in the Corporate Finance Division at Coopers & Lybrand in London, and returned to Russia in 1997 to help establish the mergers and acquisitions advisory business for Raiffeisen Investment. He then went to work for ABN AMRO Bank as director of corporate finance for Russia and the CIS, with the primary task of expanding the Dutch bank’s presence in Russia. Since 2005 he has joined Gazprombank to help develop its advisory businesses.

"With Dmitry on board, we welcome yet another strong executive whose professionalism, extensive experience, and personal qualities will be vital for the success of our new management team," Gurin said. "It is another step toward achieving our goal of making CentreInvest Group one of Russia's top investment firms."

Dmitry Popov graduated from the economics faculty of Moscow State University in 1988. In 1993 he obtained his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Houston, USA, and the Madrid Business School, Spain.