CTC Media Makes Changes to Senior Management Team

MOSCOW: CTC Media has made several changes in the company’s organizational structure, including Nikolay Surikov becoming the chief financial officer.

Surikov’s appointment took effect October 1. Most recently he had been serving as CFO of VTB Factoring, and was also the director of corporate reporting at Mobile TeleSystems.

Further changes at the company include Natalia Bilan, the head of the Domashny channel, becoming the head of Story First Productions. Natalia Korotkova, the channel’s current programming director, will take over as the head of Domashny. The head of Story First Production, Vasily Balashov, is becoming the deputy head of CTC channel and COO of the channel.

Boris Podolsky, the CEO of CTC Media, said, “I am delighted to welcome Nikolay to the CTC Media management team. He is one of the best financial professionals in Russia and a top performing executive. I had a pleasure of working with Nikolay in the past and highly value his professionalism and deep knowledge of finance and accounting. Nikolay’s extensive experience within leading Russian companies and an impressive track record of successfully implemented projects makes him a great addition to our team.”

Surikov commented, “I am very excited to be joining CTC Media and to become a member of the strong team of professionals. I am looking forward to leading the finance department and to participating in the implementation of the company’s ambitious strategy.”

Podolsky added: “I believe that this decision will allow to make the most of the top managers’ potential. It gives each of them the opportunity to further their career and apply their knowledge, experience and professionalism more broadly. We are therefore strengthening the management teams of the CTC Media’s key priority segments and businesses.

“Natalia Bilan has been head of Domashny for many years now and has been instrumental in most of the channel’s successes. Natalia is also a producer of many highly rated shows. I am sure that the channel leadership experience together with a great content development and production track record will enable us to bring Story First to the new level.

“Natalia Korotkova has been with CTC Media for over seven years. She worked at ground zero of Domashny Channel and knows the nuances and specifics of the industry inside out. Natalia is not only experienced and knowledgeable enough to take over the management of the channel, but also to bring her own perspective to its future development.

“Vasily Balashov came to CTC Media 18 months ago and has already managed to reform our in-house content production function. He created a full-scale production center aimed at satisfying the company’s need for quality content. During his work at CTC Media, Vasily Balashov demonstrated highly professional management skills and in-depth industry knowledge, which now allows him to head operations of our flagship channel CTC.”