RICHARD SOBEL, Chairman

ALEXANDER BEZUGLY, Senior Managing Director

VADYM PAVLUS, Managing Director

EKATERINA ROMASHOVA, Chief Financial Officer

ALEXEY PANYUSHKIN, Investment Officer

ANDREY RUSINOV, Investment Officer

RICHARD SOBEL
Chairman

Mr. Sobel joined Alfa Capital Partners in November 2003 and is overall responsible for building and managing the business, recruiting the team, designing and launching funds, setting the investment strategy, and directing the investment process.

Mr. Sobel has a long record of investment work in Russia dating back to 1991. From 1991 to 1994 Mr. Sobel worked with Batterymarch Financial Management in Moscow as a Director of investments and two years with the EBRD as a principal banker in its privatization and restructuring team. In 1994 Mr. Sobel helped organize the US$30 million Urals Regional Venture Fund, one of the first of eleven regional venture funds organized by EBRD to promote investment in small and medium size enterprises in Russia's regions.

In 1994, Mr. Sobel co-founded Baring Asset Management's US$160 million First NIS Regional Fund, a predecessor to the Baring Vostok funds. Mr. Sobel originated, structured and played an instrumental early role on the board of several investments, including Vimpelcom, Global Telesis, Golden Telecom and Burren Energy, four companies that subsequently went public and achieved market capitalizations in excess of US$1 billion.

Since 1994, he has led or participated in over 25 direct investments in Russia and the former Soviet Union.

Mr. Sobel also worked with CIBC Oppenheimer & Co. in Russia, with New-York‑based PartMiner and as a consultant with Bain & Company in Boston.

Mr. Sobel is on the Board or Supervisory Board of Russian Fitness Group, STS Logistics, Pamplona Capital Partners, American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, Marbleton Property Fund, Great Circle Fund and Alfa Private Equity Partners, L.P. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Mr. Sobel received his MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelors Degree in Economics from Stanford University. He is an American national and a fluent Russian speaker.

ALEXANDER BEZUGLY
Senior Managing Director

Mr. Bezugly is responsible for running day-to-day operations at Alfa Capital Partners.

Prior to joining Alfa Capital Partners in March 2008, Mr. Bezugly worked as Head of Private Equity at RIT Capital Partners plc, a closed-end listed investment trust chaired by Lord Jacob Rothschild. During his time at RIT, he was instrumental in setting up and co-managing private equity investments at TAU Capital PLC, a closed-end listed investment fund targeting Kazakhstan and Central Asia. In 1998-2002, he worked at M&A and Private Equity departments of Lehman Brothers in London. Mr. Bezugly commenced his career in 1996 with Creditanstalt Investment Bank in Moscow and New York.

Mr. Bezugly received his BA in Economics with Honors from the Moscow State University (Lomonosov). Mr. Bezugly was a Scholar at the London School of Economics. He is a Russian national and a fluent English speaker.

VADYM PAVLUS
Managing Director

Mr. Pavlus is responsible for deal origination, execution and portfolio management.
 
Prior to joining Alfa Capital Partners in June 2008, Mr. Pavlus spent three years in investment banking at Citigroup in London within the Financial Entrepreneurs Group where he was involved in execution of M&A advisory and financing mandates including several major European LBOs such as Alliance Boots, EMI and Valentino. Previously, he worked at Spektor Sachs & Co, a Kiev based management consulting firm acquired by Bain. He started his career at UniCredit CAIB (formerly Creditanstalt) in Kiev and Vienna.
 
Mr. Pavlus received an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a BA (Hons) in Economics from Kiev National University of Economics. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He is a Ukrainian national and a fluent English speaker.

EKATERINA ROMASHOVA
Chief Financial Officer

Ms. Romashova is responsible for managing the local accounting, tax and finance functions, supporting the Funds’ Investment Teams and overseeing the financial and performance reporting to the Funds’ investors. 

Prior to joining Alfa Capital Partners in August 2007, Ms. Romashova worked as a CFO of one of the companies of MDM Group based in Cyprus, Limassol, where she was responsible for management of all financial and accounting matters for over sixty companies of various jurisdictions. From 2001 to 2006, Ms. Romashova was a staff accountant and auditor for three accounting and audit firms in USA, Detroit, including KPMG with specialization on manufacturing, financial services and Sarbanes-Oxley 404 engagements.

Ms. Romashova received her BSc in Economics from the Moscow State University (Lomonosov). She is a Russian national and a fluent English speaker.

ALEXEY PANYUSHKIN
Investment Officer

Mr. Panyushkin is responsible for monitoring the Fund’s portfolio companies, analyzing investment opportunities and providing support in due diligence and deal negotiations.

Prior to joining Alfa Capital Partners in March 2010, Mr. Panyushkin worked in New York in a boutique investment bank Chiron Capital advising on PE and VC deals in the US, Russia and other emerging markets.  His industry experience includes consumer retail as well as commodity-related sectors, such as coal & coke, fertilizers, and bulk logistics.

Mr. Panyushkin received his BA Cum Laude in Economics from Denison University. He is a Russian national and a fluent English and French speaker.

ANDREY RUSINOV
Investment Officer

Mr. Rusinov is responsible for monitoring the Fund’s portfolio companies, analyzing investment opportunities and providing support in due diligence and legal negotiations.

Prior to joining Alfa Capital Partners in February 2011, Mr. Rusinov worked in the M&A advisory teams at Bear Stearns and ABN AMRO advising companies in Europe and CIS.  

Mr. Rusinov received his LLB (Law) from King’s College, University of London. He is a Russian national and a fluent English speaker.