OREANDA-NEWS. August 23, 2010. Otkritie, one of the largest financial groups in Russia, has bolstered its Research team with the appointment of two new senior Russian equity market specialists, reported the press-centre of OTKRITIE Financial Corporation.

Vladimir Tikhomirov, who joins from URALSIB Financial Corporation, becomes Senior Economist at the firm while Marat Ibragimov, who moves from Citi Investment Research, joins as Senior Consumer Analyst. They both start at Otkritie on 30th August. They will be based in Moscow and will report to Vladimir Savov, Head of Research at Otkritie.

Vladimir Tikhomirov has over 25 years international experience and is one of Russia’s leading economists. He joins Otkritie from URALSIB Financial Corporation where he has been the firm’s senior economist since June 2001. Prior to this, Vladimir was Deputy Director and Head of Research Unit for Russian & Euro-Asian Studies at Contemporary Europe Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. Before this, he held several senior roles at Potchefstroom and Witwatersrand universities in South Africa, the International University in Moscow, and the USSR Academy of Sciences. Vladimir has authored five and edited a further three books, has published over 100 academic articles and more than 150 business reports and research papers.

Marat Ibragimov has more than ten years experience in Russian equity markets. Prior to joining Otkritie he held equity research analyst roles covering Retail and Real Estate at Citi Investment Research, URALSIB Bank and Prospect Investment. Previously he was a Fixed Income Analyst at Rinaco Plus Investment Company and a Currency and Equity Analyst at Prime-TASS News Agency.

Vladimir Savov, Head of Research at Otkritie said:

“We are pleased to welcome Vladimir and Marat to Otkritie. Both are experts in Russian and international markets and their skills and wealth of experience will add significant further depth to our growing Research team We now have one of the strongest teams in the Russian market and we are in a position to provide an extended range of Research products and services to our clients”.

In the last 12 months, OTKRITIE has added over 200 new Russian and international institutional clients and increased its dedicated Russia research team to over 15 investment professionals. Since 2008, OTKRITIE has jumped from 64th to a top 5 position in  in the London Stock Exchange rankings for Russian Depository Receipts, with monthly trading rising from ?200 million to ?900 million in that period.  The firm’s brokerage unit now represents 13.6% of the Exchange Traded Derivatives market in Russia.

Notes to Editors:
Otkritie Securities Limited (OSL) is the UK-based subsidiary of OTKRITIE Financial Corporation (OFC), one of the leading financial services providers in Russia. OFC has acted as a broker, asset manager, financial consultant and investment bank for its clients since 1995.

Otkritie is the only major Russian broker offering ‘plug and play’ Direct Market Access (DMA) to the Russian exchanges, from a London based, FSA regulated office. Otkritie provides execution services to hedge funds, asset managers and broker dealers. Accredited by most European exchanges where Russian instruments are traded, it offers global market connectivity and order-routing from its offices in London, Moscow and Frankfurt.

Otkritie provides a full range of brokerage services to international clients, including research and execution. The firm’s practical experience and deep understanding of Russian markets mean Otkritie can offer local insight and highly efficient solutions to trade equities, depository receipts and derivatives on MICEX, FORTS, RTS, LSE, Xetra and EDX London. Their prime brokerage services, including custody and asset management, financing and securities lending, issuance and cancellation of depository receipts, clearing & settlements and forex solutions, are offered globally.