Belarus
Grayling is very proud that we were the first global communications consultancy to open our office in Belarus, which we celebrated with a launch at the British Embassy in November 2009.
Grayling in Belarus, which is supported by our sector specialists at our hub operations in Moscow, is structured to help clients in three ways:
- For Belarus-based firms we have structured international investor relations and capital markets PR services; as Belarus opens to foreign investors, new markets abroad and the Government accelerates it privatisation program. This means only Grayling can hub international PR services for Belarusian clients, locally in Minsk, and execute them via Grayling offices around the world, from Brussels to Moscow and from Hong Kong to London.
- For western firms entering the Belarus market, we have an expert and experienced team that can help clients in Government and Regulator relations; foreign direct investment consulting; stakeholder mapping and market entry communications strategy. This includes specialist advice on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), which is an important facet in a market like Belarus, where state-owned businesses being privatised, for instance, typically have substantial social sphere obligations. We also advise clients on business PR in Belarus.
- Finally, we offer clients local event management and FMCG marketing campaigns. Grayling Belarus was launched as a 70-30 joint venture between Grayling and BTH Investments (UK), an Anglo-Belarusian financial advisory firm, which also gives our footprint of client services an unusually impressive range and depth.
Melnikov Vladimir
Deputy General Director, Russia and Eurasia
Telephone: +7 903 790 28 22
vladimir.melnikov@grayling.com
Vladimir Melnikov is well-known amongst business journalists in Eurasia for his work for UES CEO and President of the CIS Energy Committee, Anatoly Chubais, as well as for his work with the owner of System Capital Management, the biggest investor in Ukraine. He was also secretary of the IPO Communications ‘SWAT’ Committee at state oil firm, Rosneft, which became Russia’s largest-ever IPO ($11bn) and is still the largest IPO on the London Stock Exchange.
Vladimir started his Public Relations career, after a period in state service, with the Vologda regional government where he became Communications Director. During this time he was campaign manager for Vladimir Putin's Presidential Election campaign in 2000.
Vladimir joined Grayling Russia in 2004 and has been working for a number of Russian and international clients handling financial issues management and Public Affairs. He is an experienced high-level media handler but has also worked with clients who have ‘government relations crises’, helping western clients navigate the complexities of Russian governmental and state agency structures. Vladimir’s unique talent is to share the same cultural and political DNA of the Russian state, but to combine this with the absolute best in western-style communications techniques. He is a pre-eminent crisis management counsellor.
A graduate of Vologda State University, Vladimir was awarded an MSc in economics and finance from the Russian Academy of Civil Service (Krasny Diplom) and, in 2001-2002, completed a second MSc in media and communications from the London School of Economics. He has guest-lectured on PR and media in Russia at California State University.
Marinovsky Dmitry
Deputy Genaral Director, Belarus
Telephone: +375296207233
dmirtry.marinovsky@grayling.com
- Minsk
