Michael Winn (General Director) has been based in Moscow for eighteen years. He was Head of Corporate Finance in Moscow for the German banking group WestLB for 9 years and had many clients in the energy and natural resources sector, such as Gazprom, Rosneft, Lukoil, Norilsk Nickel and TNK-BP. He was involved in several major financings – worth in total several billion dollars – predominantly for the energy and naturals resources sector in Russia. Prior to joining WestLB, Michael held senior posts with Chase Manhattan, Lloyds Bank, J P Morgan and British Gas and, in all these positions, he was responsible for developing business in the Russian market and assessing the creditworthiness and ‘bankability’ of clients and projects.
Since leaving WestLB in 2006, he has worked on a number of assignments (e.g. M&A, raising finance, strategic business consulting) in the finance, transportation and energy sectors in Russia. He is an MBA holder and fluent Russian speaker.
Peter Schulze has been based in Moscow for fourteen years. He was Counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, one of the world’s leading international law firms, and specialised in banking and finance. He was involved in many high profile financings in Russia, including facilities for Gazprom, Russian Railways, Itera, Rolf, Yukos, Rosbank, Open Investments, Rosneft, TNK-BP, Teorema, as well as on transactions that broke new ground for Russia – for example, the first domestic IPOs of Russian companies, the first future flow securitisation in Russia. All of these transactions involved complex structuring and documentation to seek to mitigate the risks arising from the Russian legal and commercial environment.
Peter is a graduate of Oxford University, a qualified English lawyer and speaks intermediate Russian.
Alan McGregor has worked in Russia for the past fifteen years and was a founding partner in a private wealth management firm. He advises senior personnel at multinational corporations and other high net worth individuals on all aspects of personal finance. He also advises on corporate finance matters to small and micro sized companies in Russia. Prior to moving to Russia, Alan worked in Hungary, Hong Kong and Vietnam for private wealth management firms following his graduation from University in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is licensed by the Chartered Insurance Institute.
Giovanni Stornante is an Italian citizen who relocated to Moscow eight years ago as an independent consultant. He previously dealt with Eastern Europe, Russia and the CIS markets, working mainly under the auspices of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Trade. In Moscow, Giovanni has provided advisory services to companies from diverse industrial backgrounds. This included projects with European and Russian corporations in the financial advisory field, IR and PR and, most recently, representing a leading Italian manufacturer of automated technologies. He is the founder and president of the business club “Italiani a Mosca”. In addition to Italian, Giovanni is a fluent speaker of English, Russian and French.
Stanislav Grafski is a qualified Russian Attorney at Law and has wide experience of various areas of Russian law. A fluent English speaker he is an MBA holder and was elected a “Manager of the Year” by Vedomosti (Russian affiliate of FT and WSJ. He has held several senior posts with Russian and international organisations, including MMD Corporate, PA & PR Consultants, Storm International, and Channel One TV Worldwide Broadcast. He provides advice on start-up and business exposure/development issues in Russia and CIS. His other practice-based expertise areas embrace corporate communications strategies, Investor and Government Relations advice, reputation, crisis and contentious issues management and responsible business practices. More details on his profile and client portfolio can be found at www.grafski.com.