OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2011. Citigroup has expanded its equity research and sales teams in Russia, part of the bank’s ongoing expansion of its emerging market equities business, reported the press-centre of Citigroup.

The bank has significantly extended its research capabilities in the region, hiring a total of four leading strategists and sector analysts.

Kingsmill Bond and Andrey Kuznetsov join Citi and will take on responsibility for the Russian strategy product. Bond and Kuznetsov previously held similar roles at Troika Dialog.

Bond was ranked No. 1 for strategy by Institutional Investor magazine for 2010. Prior to joining Troika, he spent 10 years at Deutsche Bank.

Citi has also added two key sector-based equity analysts in Moscow, complementing our extensive, existing coverage of consumer, metals and mining, utilities and banking sectors.

Ron Smith joins to lead the coverage of the Russian oil and gas sector. He previously worked at CA Cheuvreux, where he was head of Russian equity research. He will form part of a five-person oils team linking the major markets in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA) region.

Kirill Kazanli, formerly of Troika Dialog, joins Citi to cover Russian infrastructure companies. Kazanli worked at JPMorgan and Merrill Lynch prior to joining Troika Dialog. He was ranked No. 1 for the transport sector in the 2009 Extel Survey.

All four will sit in Moscow and report to Rhys Summerton, Citi’s London-based head of research for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEEMEA).

"To achieve our ambition of having the top emerging market research franchise, a strong presence in Russia is critically important," said Summerton. "These top-calibre hires complement our existing team in Moscow, highlighting our commitment to providing clients with thought-leadership and expertise in key sectors."

Citi also expanded its Moscow-based equity sales team, hiring Will Hammond as a senior salesman. He will report to Ian Colville, head of equity sales for Russia and the CIS. Hammond worked previously at Troika Dialog, where he was global head of equity sales, and prior to that with Deutsche Bank. Colville joined Citi last year from Deutsche Bank.