Goldman Sachs Group named Christopher Barter sole head of its Russian office and hired former Norilsk Nickel deputy chief executive Tav Morgan to improve its commodities-related business in the region.
Barter’s promotion comes after the transfer of David Schwimmer, co-CEO in Moscow, back to New York last month, according to two people familiar with the matter who declined to be identified because the information hasn’t been made public.
New York-based Goldman, the most profitable securities firm on Wall Street, left Russia after the country defaulted on $40 billion of domestic debt in 1998. It reopened its Moscow office in 2007, naming Barter and Schwimmer co-heads that June, with Barter focusing on finance and securities and Schwimmer on investment banking.
Goldman is on a shortlist of 22 banks for organizing Russia’s first international bond sale since 1998. Russia is seeking to sell as much as $17.8 billion of bonds this year to help plug its budget deficit. The company was the 10th biggest arranger of eurobonds for Russian companies in 2007 to 2009, organizing sales by Gazprom, Transneft and Rosselkhozbank, according to Bloomberg data.
Barter joined Goldman in 1993, while Schwimmer, who helped arrange the New York Stock Exchange’s purchase of Archipelago Holdings in 2006, joined in 1998. Morgan, 42, quit Norilsk in July after four years at the mining company. He worked in the Moscow office of McKinsey & Co. for nine years before joining Norilsk in June 2004.
Goldman declined to comment and Barter, Schwimmer and Morgan didn’t return calls seeking comment.