New IR hire for CTC Media

Oleg Kuzmin has been appointed as the new chief strategic communications officer at independent television company CTC Media. The role encompasses corporate communications, PR, CSR responsibilities and investor relations for the NASDAQ-listed firm.

Prior to joining the company, Kuzmin led the communications team at international steel and mining firm EVRAZ, as well as heading up the communications department at Eurocement. He has also held senior positions at Ogilvy Public Relations, according to a statement from CTC Media.

Yuliana Slashcheva, CTC Media’s chief executive officer, welcomed Kuzmin to the firm, stating that his ‘many years of successful work in corporate communications and public relations on both Russian and international markets’ will enable the company to ‘further strengthen its position as the leading Russian independent media company’.

CTC Media operates television channels across Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, with three free-to-air networks in Russia as well as Channel 31 in Kazakhstan and a TV company in Moldova. This gives the company a combined potential audience of more than 150 mn people, according to its statement. It also offers an international pay-TV option available across North America, Europe, central Asia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Middle East and Kyrgyzstan.

‘Today the media and entertainment industry provides plenty of opportunity for development, and communications are extremely necessary in a period when the industry faces difficult challenges,’ says Kuzmin, a political science graduate who also holds an MBA from MIRBIS, the Moscow international higher business school, in the company statement. ‘I am convinced that together we will be able not only to enhance the company’s image, but also to achieve a new level of communication with our target audience.’