Supply chain specialist Drum Risk has opened a subsidiary in Kiev to develop contact with exporters and importers, overseas traders and banks.

The new branch will be headed by Leonid Krivenko, who has been appointed as managing director.

Based in Moscow, he will be responsible for developing and overseeing Drum’s operations in Russia, Ukraine and Georgia.

Krivenko is a lawyer with nearly 20 years experience in managing risks in commodities in Russia, having worked as a head of department for the Russian Bank for Reconstruction and Development and as secretary to the presidential commission for cooperation with the World Bank.

Drum claims that the decision to open the Kiev branch is due to increased collateral management activity and interest in the market.

Drum explains to GTR that the Ukraine will become an important part of the company’s growth strategy and will be followed by expansion into Kazakhstan later in 2010.