Sergei Stepanov Email & Phone Number

● Leading the practice with 8 accounts of high-profile clients across Eastern Europe, CIS, and the Middle East, including Visa, HSBC, SWIFT, Nestlé, Pictet, and Diageo.● Leading crisis communications for SWIFT in Russia in 2022. ● Participating in developing and running media training for Shell, IKEA, and Tetra Pak.● Developing communications strategies for the practice’s clients, helping to pursue their goals.o Ensured Visa leadership in 2 of 4 comms strategic pillars in Russia.o Designed a comms plan to support the transition of new Visa CEO in the country.o Created a comms strategy and positioning for Pictet in Russia.● Conceptualising and managing over 20 PR campaigns for clients in 10 markets across Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.● Developing training for the practice team to enhance their skills in copywriting, media relations, and account management.● Won 3 new accounts, increased the practice’s revenue by 25% and profitability by 30% over 2 years.

● Preparing copy for external communications, including clients’ narratives, press releases, and presentations. ● Developing communications strategies and content plans for clients’ owned channels in social media. ● Editing video content for internal communications and preparing scripts for speakers.● Developing newsletters for internal communications and copyrighted texts for them. ● Conducting interviews with clients’ speakers and preparing texts based on them.

● Led the execution of the communications strategy as part of the company’s expansion plan in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.● Designed and led a campaign to enhance engagement with banks, fintechs, and regulators across 12 markets in Europe and Central Asia.● Developed relationships with key reporters at national, local, and industry media which helped to enhance the company’s public profile among partners across CIS and Eastern Europe.● Organised conferences for 200+ participants from banks, fintechs, and financial institutions. ● Created a content plan and engaged 20+ speakers for various events.

● Led tactical execution of PR strategy across 4 markets in CIS countries, including media and stakeholder relations as well as crisis communications.● Developed and managed PR campaigns in Russia to support the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award and Entrepreneurial Winning Women.● Delivered consistent results across a range of disciplines, including media relations, events, and crisis communications, resulting in increased brand visibility.● Translated and wrote copy for press releases, drafted comments for media, prepared assets for media based on the company’s surveys, organized interviews, updated media plan, drafted speeches for C-level management, and prepared daily analytical media reports.

● Developed and implemented PR plans to increase the visibility of the publishing house and initiate publications in media by obtaining more than 150 book reviews in Tier 1 media in a year.● Organised and handled interviews with CEO in local and international media (CNN, BBC, and NYT among others), gaining on average 8–10 interviews per year. ● Organised more than 20 media events per year to present new books and periodicals to journalists.● Organised two annual international conferences each year for the publishing house’s authors from the leading universities (Cambridge, Oxford, and Stanford among others) to strengthen relationships with key authors and support the publishing house’s public profile across the community. ● Developed content plans for publishing house events at international book fairs in Germany and the UK to support the sales department in pitching local authors to international publishing houses.