SUP Announces New Management Team

Annelies van den Belt was today promoted to the position of CEO of SUP, a growing international online media company. Previously, Ms. van den Belt had been General Manager of SUP’s Russian operations.

Her promotion comes following SUP’s acquisition of Gazeta.ru in June of this year and is a next natural step in the process of transforming SUP into a multi-faceted online media company. As part of this transformation process, the Board of Directors also confirmed a series of new senior appointments.

SUP’s founder and first CEO, Andrew Paulson, will take up the position as Chairman of SUP’s Board of Directors.

SUP’s CFO Liliya Omasheva has been promoted to COO and will play a wider role in the business both in Moscow and San Francisco.

The Board of Directors believe that Ms. van den Belt’s experience at building successful online media businesses in the UK, along with her proven track record in Russia (she was previously a senior executive at Independent Media in Moscow), will provide SUP with decisive leadership in the fast-developing online media market.

SUP today consists of two clear business lines: SUP Media and SUP Advertising: SUP Media in Russia offers the best of Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 content, the blogging site LiveJournal, the news provider Gazeta.ru and sports site Championat.ru. The monthly reach of these sites in the Russian internet market is over 40%.

Internationally, SUP is developing LJ as one of the leading user generated content sites in the US and expanding into other markets where LJ already has a foothold.

SUP Advertising has two divisions: +SOL and Victory S.A. +SOL is one of the leading online sales houses in Russia, representing a client base of sites which reach over 50% of the Russian online audience. Victory S.A. has recently secured a number of new high-profile clients and is developing a new suite of products to offer the market.

SUP’s founder Alexander Mamut, speaking on behalf of Board said: "Annelies’ move to the role of CEO is a natural next step for SUP. She has made a big impression on the business since she arrived earlier this year and I am looking forward to working with her in even more detail. With Andrew deciding to take a new role on the board now is the right time for Annelies to take over from him".

Ms van den Belt said today: “Leading SUP is an enormous challenge and a great responsibility. The company’s progress since its launch has been impressive and Andrew and the team have built a solid business. SUP Media now needs to develop new features for users and SUP Advertising will soon be launching new products for clients. I am looking forward to working with the teams in Moscow and San Francisco.”