Nordgold’s senior management is led by Nikolai Zelenski, our chief executive officer, and includes Sergey Zinkovich, the company’s chief financial officer. Both are members of our board of directors.

The biographies of the other members of our senior management team are set out below.

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  Nikolai Zelenski

  Chief Executive Officer
  Nikolai joined OAO Severstal in 2004 and was head of Severstal Resources’ gold division and strategy. Previously, he was an engagement manager in the mining sector at McKinsey & Company.

  Nikolai holds a master of technical sciences degree from the Saint Petersburg State Technical University, a Ph.D. in molecular genetics from the University of Texas, and a master of business administration degree from Vanderbilt University.

• 

  Sergey Zinkovich

  Chief Financial Officer
  Sergey joined OAO Severstal in 2005. He was head of the tax department of Severstal Group’s mining division and chief financial officer of its gold division. Previously, Sergey worked at BDO Unicon and held various financial management positions in the manufacturing industry.

  Sergey graduated from the Belarusian State University with a degree in jurisprudence, specialising in financial law.

• 

  Oleg Pelevin

  Director, Strategy and Corporate Development
  Oleg joined OAO Severstal in 2004 and has been a director of High River Gold since November 2008. Previously, he was a consultant at American Appraisal Russia and head of the investment department at Alphayurservis.

• 

  Vladimir Shvetsov

  Director, Geology and Exploration
  Vladimir joined OAO Severstal in 2007 and has 34 years of experience in the geology industry. Previously, he was chief executive of InterGeo Consulting and has held management positions at a number of geological enterprises.

• 

  Sergei Stepanov

  Chief Operating Officer
  Sergei joined Nordgold in November 2010 in his current role. Previously, he was director of coal production and refining for DTEK in Ukraine, and prior to that he was chief operating officer of the Severstal Group coal mining company Vorkutaugol. Sergei studied economics and finance at Moscow State University Lomonosov.

• 

  Bruce Lumley

  Chief Operating Officer, Africa Operations
  Bruce joined OAO Severstal in 2007 with the acquisition of Celtic Resources, where he was general director of its Kazakhstan operations. Bruce has more than 25 years of experience in the mining sector.

• 

  Evgeny Tulubensky

  Chief Legal Officer
  Evgeny joined the Severstal Group in 2005 as a lawyer in its steel division and became chief legal officer for the gold division of the Severstal Group in 2008. Evgeny has been a director of High River Gold since 2008. Previously, Mr Tulubensky worked as a consultant at Ernst & Young. Evgeny obtained a law degree from Saint Petersburg State University in 2004 and an economics degree from Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics in 2008.

• 

  Yulia Sklar

  Director, Human Resources
  Yulia joined Nordgold in January 2012 as HR Director. Before joining Nordgold she served as Human Resources Director at Ferronordic Machines and BP. Yulia also gained her experience previously worked for Alfa Bank and Pepsico Holdings. She studied languages at the Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical Institute, went through the International Executive Program at INSEAD (France and Singapore) and obtained Master Degree of New York University.

• 

  Igor Klimanov

  Managing Director, Africa Operations
  Igor was appointed as Managing Director of Africa Operations for Nordgold in September 2010. He was appointed to the board of directors of High River Gold on 3 September 2009. Previously he was a former chief executive officer of High River Gold and Manager, Corporate Development at Severstal Gold. Igor holds a PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and an Engineering Physics degree from the Moscow Engineering and Physics Institute.

•  

  Ekaterina Yukhanova

  Procurement director
  Ekaterina has joined Severstal Resources as a head of raw materials supply department in 2010. Previously Ekaterina was a consultant at A.T.Kearney and specialized in procurement transformation projects. Ekaterina graduated from MGIMO University and the University of Saarland with the degree in economics.

• 

  Alexey Shchedrin

  Head of Financial Communication and Investor Relations
  Alexey joined the Severstal Group in 2004 as an analyst for the public communications department of OAO Severstal. He joined Nordgold in his current position in August 2011. Previously, Alexey served as IR manager for OAO Severstal and senior manager for financial communication practice at Mikhailov & Partners. He studied economics at the Moscow State University of Instrumental Engineering and Computer Science.