Russia
Background
“Russia is not a part of Europe, nor a part of Asia, it is a continent unto itself”. Russia is one of the world’s most important and exciting markets and Grayling is fortunate to have a major presence in the market, through a long-established and much-respected heritage firm. It is also a market that believes foreign business needs Russia more than Russia needs individual foreign businesses, meaning that communications messaging has to be nuanced to local sensitivities, particularly, in the case of Big Business, to Government’s sensitivities.
Grayling Russia, based in Moscow, is a Public Relations, Public Affairs and Investor Relations consultancy with a specialist digital media division. We provide strategic communications advice to global and Russian companies from a broad range of industries including energy; healthcare and pharmaceutical; financial and professional services; technology, media and telecommunications and consumer brands.
In our public relations practice we have a strong portfolio of crisis management expertise, including in litigation situations, product safety and fatal industrial accidents. We have a well-honed methodology to offer clients for successful crisis and contingency training (that goes beyond PR into operational contingency planning and training); as well as media training for a variety of situations from C-level interviews to crisis handling. We are outstanding at delivering high-level business press coverage, which not only meets client objectives, but also dovetails with the ‘Russia First’ zeitgeist of the market and Government. We have teams offering clients Lifestyle PR (luxury goods, TV, travel & tourism & consumer electronics), B2B (especially in industrial and TMTs sectors), professional and financial services.
Our Financial PR and IR team is very experienced and its track record includes several successful Russian IPOs and privatisations; including as global PR coordinators of the largest-ever (the $10.8 bn Rosneft IPO), messaging and coordinating agencies for the client around the world. We have FPR & IR experience in oil & gas, power generation and engineering.
Our Government Relations team is both impactful and ethical. We have a particularly close and deep understanding of the workings of the Federal Anti-monopoly Service and Russian consumer rights and healthcare regulators. We also have a unique and extremely detailed regional and Federal GR methodology for large-scale foreign direct investment, such as industrial site location, development & permissioning. Of course we have also helped clients on building relationships at Kremlin, Prime Minister’s Office, Ministerial and State Duma level.
Grayling Russia was voted EMEA Public Affairs Agency of the Year 2008 by leading international PR journal, The Holmes Report and, in 2009, was awarded the International Stevie Award for ‘Communications Campaign of the Year in Europe’. We were also an award winner for interactive marketing, in 2009, at the CTAM Creative Awards (for the European cable TV industry).
From our Moscow hub, we offer domestic Russian and also pan-Eurasian regional communications campaigns working with our in-country teams across Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Azerbaijan. Grayling Russia operates to international standards of Public Relations and Public Affairs ethics, integrity and corporate responsibility. All our Russian staff can speak and work in fluent business English.
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Shirley Hanley-Ryder
Regional Director, Grayling Turkey, Russia, CIS and SEE
Shirley.Hanley-Ryder@grayling.com
Shirley Hanley-Ryder
Regional Director, Grayling Turkey, Russia, CIS and SEE
Telephone: +7 495 788 6784 ext 1046
Shirley.Hanley-Ryder@grayling.com
Shirley has broad experience in consumer and corporate PR across a variety of industries and sectors but in particular has worked on some of the world’s leading international brands inclulding Coca Cola, Diageo, Unilever and Roche as well as driving consumer awareness campaigns for the government and private sector in the UK. Prior to joining Grayling’s senior management team in Moscow earlier this year she ran her own marketing communications agency in the South of England having previously been Deputy Managing Director of QBO plc, now Bell Pottinger. Shirley is listed in Debrett’s People of Today.
Vladimir Melnikov
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.
- Moscow
