First name

Alexander

Smotrov

Practice Director

Alexander provides tailored advice, insights, and intelligence to clients on the political and regulatory dynamics in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as advising international businesses with market entry.

Alexander is Global Counsel’s lead on Central & Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia. Before joining GC, Alexander worked for ten years as chief UK correspondent at the leading Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, covering UK and international politics and Russian businesses globally. Prior to this, he worked as a journalist in Moscow and Prague.

At GC, Alexander leads multi-market projects in CEE and Eurasia, including policy analysis and monitoring for corporate clients. He advises international clients on Russian market entry, the impact of Russian sanctions and navigating Russian policymaking.

Recent examples of his work include:

Advising leading global technology companies on the impact of the changing political and regulatory environment in Russia and Eurasia on their operations and compliance.
Providing investors with cross-cutting political monitoring, analysis and due diligence on Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Serbia and other CEE markets.
Developing tailored programmes and preparation for clients ranging from a leading global electric vehicles manufacturer to an international sporting event organising committee - on market trips and international events such as WEF and SPIEF.