Our Team

Sergey Zverev is one of the pioneers of the Russian communications market.

In 1990, he was a member of the group of the leading economists that designed the “500 Days” national development program. He is one of the founders of NTV, the leading TV Company in Russia, Segodnya newspaper, and Itogi magazine. In 1998-99, Sergey Zverev was Vice Chairman for external and internal communications of RAO “Gazprom” Management Board, and supervised the creation of Gazprom Media Holding. In 1999, he worked as the Deputy Head of the Presidential Executive Office for Internal Policy.

Sergey Zverev is a member of a number of Russian and international associations, as well as advisory councils under government bodies, including the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation, Expert Council under the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, Public Council of the Finance Ministry of the Russian Federation.

He is also a member of the senior expert council under the Russian Public Relations Association (RASO), the supervisory board of the “Silver Archer” National Award for Public Relations, the Russian Academy of Public Relations (RAPR), the World Communication Forum Association (WCFA), and the international association of independent PR agencies PRGN. In 2016-2020, Sergey Zverev was the chairman of the Association of Consultancies in the Field of Public Relations (AKOS).

Since 2010, Sergey Zverev has been the head of the School of Integrated Communications at the Higher School of Economics — National Research University.

Sergey Zverev holds numerous industry awards, including the Best Media Manager of Russia in the nomination for the contribution to the industry’s development; the “Silver Archer” National Award for Public Relations in the nomination “Master”; the Communication for Future Davos Award (C4F) in the nomination “Titan of the Future” for outstanding professional performance; the Order of Friendship for professional achievements, long-term dedicated work and public activities; the Кotler Awards in the nomination “Public Relations and Affairs”; the PRO.PR Awards; as well as other decorations, diplomas and letters of acknowledgement for implementation of large-scale national projects.

Ekaterina has been working in communications for over 17 years. She joined CROS in 2010 as a project manager.

As Vice President and Deputy CEO, she was in charge of comprehensive communication projects, new accounts and practices development, and was in charge of the implementation of the company’s strategy.

In the CEO role, Ekaterina carries out operational management of the agency and manages business development and development of CROS competences.

She is a member of the expert panels of the “Silver Archer”, the most prestigious Russian PR award, and "Silver Mercury", one of the largest festivals of advertising and marketing communications.

She is a graduate of the Moscow Institute of Economics, Management and Law, the European School of Brussels, EMBA program at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, and completed 10 different training courses.

Ekaterina holds a RASO certificate.

Kirill has been working in communications for over 20 years. He joined the CROS team in 2021 and is now supervising the strategy and development of the company.

He began his career in journalism when, at the same time with his studies at the university, he worked in the "Kommersant" publishing house and the Expert magazine. After graduation, he moved to the position of a PR manager, and then the press secretary of MTS mobile operator. Further on, he worked in the communications departments of the Russian representative office of Motorola, TV-3 television channel, YotaDevices, Sony and a number of other companies. Before joining CROS, he was the Head of Marketing and BI Analytics Department at IMHO Digital Sales House.

Kirill is a graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Leonid has been working in public relations since 1994. At CROS, he is charge of the clients from the public sector.

He started his professional career in the information and analytical, and PR and media relations departments of Most Group and Media-Most. Since 2000, he has been actively involved in the information campaign for the 2002 All-Russia Population Census, the first large project of CROS.

In 2003, he became the first deputy of the editor-in-chief at the international news agency RIA Novosti in charge of projects with the government agencies and public organizations. He was involved in a number of large-scale national and international events, including the G8 and the G20 Summits (2006, 2013) in Saint Petersburg, the APEC Summit in Vladivostok (2012), the Year of Russia in China (2006), the International Arctic Forum, the Valdai Discussion Club, the 60th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the “St. George Ribbon” Campaign, the Forum of European and Asian Media (FEAM), Sochi 2014 media center for non-accredited journalists, the Year of Russia in China (2000). Leonid Burmistrov was behind the establishment of the Russian Agency of Legal and Judicial Information (RAPSI), The Moscow News daily, RIA Novosti Innovative Media Laboratory, “Russia in the World” monitoring and analysis system, RIA Novosti information system and the agency’s Middle Eastern news hub in Dubai.

He was involved in design, launch and management of the official websites of the Russian Government, the Prime Minister, and the Mayor of Moscow. Leonid Burmistrov also developed the media support programs for the judicial reform in Russia, as well as the special campaign aimed at increasing Russia’s investment attractiveness.

Leonid Burmistrov holds a RASO certificate.

Alexey Kalenov has 15-year experience in communications for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. At CROS, he provides comprehensive project management for Russian and international pharmaceutical companies from the firm’s client portfolio. Alexey is also in charge of strategic and media consulting for the healthcare sector.

Before joining CROS, he worked as the Head of Healthcare Practice at SPN Communications and Edelman Imageland where he was managing projects for GE Healthcare, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Abbott, Takeda, Merz, Pfizer, AIPM, and UNICEF. Prior to Edelman, Alexey Kalenov worked in the Russian agency PRESSTO, focusing on the pharmaceutical market. He has implemented a series of corporate communications projects, CSR projects, publicity and public affairs campaigns for Eli Lilly, Nycomed, Roche, Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, and Johnson & Johnson.

Alexey is a graduate of the State University of Management.

He also holds The Russian Public Relations Association (RASO) certificate.

Olga Bezgodova has been working in communications for over 15 years. She joined CROS in 2015 and is now working on corporate and public communications.

Prior to joining CROS, she worked in the leading communications agencies and headed public relations departments in companies from the real estate development, financial and IT industries. She was designing and implementing PR strategies for the leading Russian and international companies, including Autodesk, GE, Russian Copper Company, TechnoNICOL, the National Payment Card System, UralSib Insurance Group, Bank Saint-Petersburg, INSIGMA Group, and others. Olga has also chaired the working group on development and implementation of the Russian Finance Ministry’s information campaign on the promotion of financial literacy and financial education in the Russian Federation.

She has an extensive expertise in strategic corporate and public communications, including crisis communications and media support of M&A deals.

Olga Bezgodova graduated from the Volgograd State University and completed postgraduate studies at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration in Political Science. She is a PhD in Political Science.

Vice President for Strategic Communications

Maria Yarina joined the CROS team in 2023, and currently she is working on expanding the client portfolio in the area of complex projects at the intersection of commercial and public assets. Maria has 15 years of experience in PR, GR, event management, project management, strategic development programs.

Prior to joining CROS, Maria managed communication support of national projects in ANO "National Priorities". She spent 10 years working for the Russian Olympic Committee as Head of the Mass Events Department and Executive Secretary of the Athletes' Commission of the ROC.

Among the implemented projects: Olympic Games in London, Sochi, Rio de Janeiro, Pyeongchang, European Games in Baku and Minsk. Maria developed and successfully implemented marketing and communication strategies, including the launch of the "Team Russia" project. The portfolio of her clients also includes Gazprom, Aeroflot, Megafon, Sber, VK, Nornickel, Rostelecom, Ingosstrakh, Google, Visa, P&G, Coca-Cola, Toyota, McDonald's, Dow Chemical, Bosco, ZASPORT, Siberian Wellness and others.

Maria Yarina is a lecturer at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Russian International Olympic University.

She was awarded a commemorative medal and gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation.

Maria graduated from the Faculty of Economics of Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University, completed her postgraduate studies in political science at Lomonosov Moscow State University, and graduated with a master's degree in psychology at the Higher School of Economics.

Ksenia is in charge of the development of new research products at CROS and supervises research-related projects.

She started her career in a branding agency where over time she created a full-fledged department specializing in desk and qualitative research.

Ksenia worked as a consultant in strategic communications and carried out ad hoc social and marketing research for Rosnano, Rosatom, Yota, Megafon, Beeline, Eksmo Publishing House, Hosting Center, American Express, Universal Pictures, Vi, Kenya Tourist Board, Paul Hartmann, Invitro and many others.

In the past four years, as a deputy CEO of CrosDigital, she has been managing various projects and developing the research capacity of the agency, including online and mixed research formats.

Ksenia is a graduate of the Russian State University for the Humanities, Department of Social Science. Since 2011, she has been lecturing at MBA program of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. She is fluent in English.

Andrey is a PhD in political science with over 20 years of experience in political PR and analysis. He joined the CROS team in 2012 and is in charge of analytics for political projects. He is specializing in information and political analysis, development of analytical papers for the key clients, strategic recommendations and proposals.

One of the authors of the CROS National Anxiety Index, a quarterly analytical product that captures and ranks the top topics of citizen anxiety.

Before joining CROS, Andrey was the head of analytical department in the Foundation for Effective Politics. He worked for government institutions, including the Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation and the Russian Energy Ministry’s entity.

He has a master’s degree in public administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Peter has been working in journalism and communications for some 20 years. He joined CROS in 2016 and is now in charge of managing public interest projects, Public Affairs and GR.

Before CROS, he was the editor-in-chief of The RBC Daily business newspaper. Earlier, he was a correspondent, a political editor, and the first deputy editor-in-chief of The RBC Daily, a correspondent of the international department of the Expert Magazine and worked in various projects of the News Media publishing house. He has also founded his own business.

Peter is a graduate of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the People's Friendship University of Russia and holds a PhD degree in political science.

Konstantin Shimbirev has been working in the communications industry for over 15 years.

He specializes in strategy development for major projects and internal communications. His key skills were refined in communication projects in the science and education industries.

His major accounts include The Ministry of Science and Education, Tomsk State University, Far Eastern Federal University, The National University of Science and Technology "MISiS", The Ministry of Sports, The Ministry of Emergency Situations, The Ministry of North Caucasus Affairs, The Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, Moscow Government, The Ministry of Culture, The Federal Agency for Tourism, Rostelecom, RusHydro, InterRAO, Sberbank, Rusnano, Russian Railways, Aeroflot, Rossiya Airlines, Aurora Airlines.

In 2010, he was a member of the expert council on the establishment of the Far Eastern Federal University. In 2013, he was in the award panel of the “Silver Archer” Award in the Far Eastern Federal District. In 2018, he was an expert of the Far Eastern Media Summit, member of the expert group working on the Pilot Population Census. Since 2020, he is an independent advisor for educational projects at the Content Foundation.

He is a graduate of the History Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Natalia has been working in communications for over 8 years. She joined CROS in 2015 and is now in charge of complex communication projects. She is also engaged in the development of communication strategies, crisis communications, organization of clients’ participation in major industry events, and media relation.

Natalia has an extensive experience in retail and government agencies. The portfolio of her clients includes the Retail Companies Association (ACORT), X5 Retail Group, Sportmaster, MTS and others.

Before joining CROS, she was working in sociological research related to the development of civil initiatives in Moscow and participated in various projects of the Moscow Government departments. She has also worked in election campaigns.

Natalia is a graduated of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (RUDN) with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and received her master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Potsdam.

Ivan joined the CROS team in 2022 and currently oversees digital projects at the agency.

He has more than 10 years of experience in the communications industry and has expertise in all key areas from development to preparation of communications strategies. During this time, Ivan has successfully implemented strategies for clients such as Lukoil, Gazprom, Royal Canin, HAVAL.

Ivan Minaev is responsible for the operational management of the agency's digital division (SMM, influence marketing, ORM, SERM, digital special projects, digital media, planning/buying, etc.), creates digital strategies and participates in the development of complex solutions for the agency's clients.

Ivan graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the Higher School of Economics, majoring in «Business and Political Journalism». At the beginning of his career, he worked as a correspondent for Kommersant Publishing House and later for MTRK Mir.

Eldar has been working in the communications market for over 10 years and has versatile experience in running integrated communications campaigns.

Before joining Heads's Made team in 2019, for 7 years Eldar was Managing Director of Red Communications agency (Baku) - a partner of the international network Ketchum.

His responsibilities included managing a portfolio of projects, calculating budgets, building teams, and planning the agency's work. He has a wide experience in managing large project teams.

He has developed and implemented campaigns for such brands as Coca-Cola, Mastercard, Kaspersky, Microsoft, Turkish Airlines, Carlsberg, Flydubai, British Airways, Renault, Rolls-Royce, BMW, Grants, Saxo Bank, SONY, Bosch, BAT and others.

He has been working in the leading mass media of Azerbaijan for more than 13 years. He speaks Azerbaijani, Russian, English, Turkish and Spanish.

Eldar graduated from Baku State University (Bachelor's degree) in 2005 and Baku State University (Master's degree) in 2007. His major is "International Journalism". In 2020, he graduated from the Master's program "Data-driven Communications" at the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

Natalia Zhivaya has over 10 years of experience in the communications industry. She joined CROS in 2011. As the CEO of b2all, she is in charge of marketing communications, design and implementation of creative concepts, and integrated campaigns for B2C and B2B industries.

The portfolio of her clients includes Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, Rosneft, M.Video and many others. Her projects were acknowledged by more than 20 prestigious Russian and international awards, including the Silver Archer, Effie Awards Russia 2015, the Silver Mercury, PRGN Best Practice Award, Gold Quill Awards, SABRE Awards, IPRA Golden World Awards.