OREANDA-NEWS. On 20 July 2009 CTC Media, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCM), Russia’s leading independent media company, announced the appointment of Aleksey Zyunkin as General Director of DTV Group, which is wholly owned by CTC Media, with effect from September 1, 2009. Vyacheslav Murugov, who has been serving as General Director of DTV Group since February 2009, will step down from this position. Mr. Murugov will continue to serve as Chief Content Officer of CTC Media and General Director of the CTC channel and will focus on the Group’s strategic objectives.

Mr. Zyunkin has been working in the television industry for more than 12 years. He has held the positions of Strategic Programming Director of CTC Media (since 2006) and Programming Director of the CTC channel (since 2002).

Anton Kudryashov, Chief Executive Officer of CTC Media, commented, “During the time of his employment with the Company, Aleksey Zyunkin has proved himself as a talented professional with excellent managerial skills. I am confident that he will successfully achieve the goals set for him by management. I would also like to thank Vyacheslav Murugov, who has been heading the DTV Group for the last six months. The changes that were implemented by the DTV team under Vyacheslav Murugov’s leadership have contributed to the solid results demonstrated by the channel and proved its high growth potential. Vyacheslav will continue to serve as Chief Content Officer of CTC Media and be in charge of strategic programming, content acquisitions and creation.”

Commenting on his appointment, Aleksey Zyunkin said, “I am confident that the experience in television which I have gained at CTC Media, and the professionalism of the DTV team will enable us to build on the initiated developments and strengthen our competitive position in the Russian TV market.”

Vyacheslav Murugov, Chief Content Officer of CTC Media, noted, “I have known Alexey for a long time and consider him to be both exceptionally talented and responsible. I am delighted that such a highly qualified professional has been chosen to head the very promising DTV Group, following a rigorous candidate selection process. I believe that under Alexey’s leadership, DTV will strengthen its market position and attract new viewers and advertisers. On behalf of the Company, I would like to congratulate Alexey on this appointment.”

Aleksey Zyunkin

In 2006, Mr. Zyunkin was appointed as Strategic Programming Director of CTC Media. From 2002 to 2006, he served as Programming Director of the CTC channel. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Zyunkin worked for the broadcasting company “Studio 1+1” in Ukraine, where he was appointed as Head of the Procurement Department in 1998. He has been a Member of the Russian Television Academy since 2007. Aleksey Zyunkin graduated from Kiev National Linguistic University, the Department of English Language. Aleksey Zyunkin was born on February 22, 1973 in Kiev, Ukraine.