Alexander Shelemekh

Alexander is a Special Adviser to FIPRA International and is one of the leading advisers on government relations in Russia and the countries that made up the former Soviet Union. He has extensive experience working with western governments and international organizations. In August 2004, he co-founded FIPRA Russia together with Mikhail Goncharov, advising multinational corporations on public relations, government relations, investor relations and financial communications in Russia and related territories. Prior to this, from 1996-2004, Alexander was a Partner and Senior Vice President at the PBN Company where he was Head of Government Relations. Alexander is a well-known expert in intellectual property rights legislation and participated in the State Duma working group for the revision of trademark legislation. He co-founded the private-public partnership, Coalition for Intellectual Property Rights, and led their work in Russia, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Moldova and other CIS countries. This involved advising the World Intellectual Property Organization and the patent departments of these countries on strategy. As a consultant, Alexander has a wide-range of experience and has advised companies in many sectors including the aerospace, pharmaceutical, food, IT and Service industries. He has also been involved in long-term government relations initiatives regarding tariffs and customs duties on the importation of alcohol and tobacco. He has been a key-player in numerous large-scale international projects for privatization and economic reform in Russia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and the Ukraine advising on high level government and media activity in all of these countries. From 1993-1996, Alexander was the President and Chief Executive of the International Press Centre and Club Moskva where he organized over 400 press conferences for senior Russian and International politicians. Prior to this, from1988-1993, he was a diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R./Russian Federation and worked as an Assistant to the Ambassador at the Embassy of the U.S.S.R. in Washington D.C. and as the Director of Embassy Protocol. He graduated from MGIMO in 1986.