VimpelCom makes another high profile appointment with Scott Dresser

Russian telco VimpelCom made its second high profile appointment in as many months, after lining up Scott Dresser as group general counsel with effect from Sep. 1. Dresser has also been appointed a member of the Group Executive Board and the Group Management Board.

Dresser was most recently vice president of Global Strategic Initiatives at BirdLife International, a global conservation organisation operating in 118 countries, where he worked for 15 months. He is most well known for his roles at Virgin Media in the UK, including as general counsel where he led the Legal Department and acted as the principal liaison with the company's Board of Directors, as well as being a member of the Executive Management Team.

Jeffrey McGhie, VimpelCom's outgoing group general counsel and chief corporate affairs officer, has agreed to remain with the company as a senior adviser.

Early last month the telco announced that René Schuster, the man previously in charge of the plan to merge Telefónica Deutschland with E-Plus, was joining VimpelCom as its COO.

In a statement, New York-listed VimpelCom said the former Telefónica Deutschland CEO will assume direct responsibility for the operational and financial performance of the Business Units, reporting to CEO Jo Lunder. Schuster succeeds Jan Edvard Thygesen, who is retiring at the conclusion of his contract in December.

Commenting on the latest appointment, Lunder said: "Scott brings a wealth of expertise from a wide range of industries, having worked in both the UK and US. His experience will be a valuable asset to our Group and I look forward to working closely with him."

Dresser added. "I am looking forward to working with my colleagues across VimpelCom's international footprint and the challenge of addressing the different legal and regulatory structures that we have in each country."

For more:
- see this VimpelCom release
- see this MarketWatch story
- see this The Lawyer article

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