Changes at Cosmopolitan

Effective January 1, 2011, staffing changes have been made at the Cosmopolitan group of publications.

Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Elena Vasilyeva is now the publisher of the Cosmo brand group of magazines, and Alexandra Badanina has taken over leadership of the magazine.

Sanoma Independent Media (SIM) board of directors member Ekaterina Kabakchi has left her post as publisher and continues working with Cosmopolitan as director of operations.

Lyudmila Gurei was named SIM corporate director for online sales while retaining her post as commercial director for the Cosmopolitan group of publications. Svetlana Melnikova became advertising director for Cosmopolitan magazine.

Sanoma Independent Media CEO Elena Myasnikova said, “Talented and creative people always want to grow constantly and find new areas in which they can apply their skills. It has already become a tradition that top managers at Cosmopolitan magazine do not rest on their laurels, but continue developing in their careers at the publishing house. It is good that the company provides them with that opportunity, and that is also one of our traditions. Former Cosmo Editor-in-Chief Elena Vasilyeva trained an outstanding successor, Alexandra Badanina, and can now become publisher herself. That enables Ekaterina Kabakchi to focus entirely on a strategically important area: the development of Internet resources for the publishing house. Previously, she had to combine this work with the job of Cosmo publisher. These changes will give a new impetus to the magazine’s development while maintaining continuity in its editorial and publishing policies.”

	Ekaterina Kabakchi graduated from the Moscow State Linguistic University, formerly the Morisa Tereza Institute of Foreign Languages. She has worked at Cosmopolitan since 1999 and in 2006 became the publisher for all the magazines released under the Cosmo brand. Kabakchi has been a member of the SIM board of directors since 2010.
	Lyudmila Gurei graduated from the Higher School of Economics with a degree in Company Economics. She came to SIM 11 years ago and rose from advertising assistant to commercial director of the Cosmopolitan group of publications, and then to corporate director of online sales for SIM.
	Elena Vasilyeva graduated from the Economics Department of the MAI Engineering and Economics Institute, joining Cosmopolitan in 2002. From 2003 to 2005 Vasilyeva headed Cosmopolitan Beauty magazine and in 2005 she became the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine.
	Alexandra Badinina graduated from the Journalism department of Moscow State University. She began her career with Cosmopolitan as a freelance writer and has been working as an editor with the magazine since 2006.
	Svetlana Melnikova graduated from the Plekhanov Russian Economic University. She has been working with SIM since 1993 — almost from the very founding of the company. She joined the Cosmo team as the advertising manager in 2003.

The Sanoma Independent Media publishing house has been producing Cosmopolitan magazine in Russia since 1994. Cosmopolitan occupies the Number One slot in Russia among glossy women’s magazines. Today Cosmo is more than just a magazine — it has become a way of life for millions of readers.