With much of Moscow on holiday, the approval process is delaying Weafer's move but he is expected to join Troika in September.

For Weafer it will be a return to once-familiar ground. He started his Moscow career in the summer of 1998 as  head of research at Troika Dialogue. After four years he was lured to Alfa Bank as head of Research and in 2007 joined Uralsib Capital.

Before coming to Russia, the Irish economist served two years as head of equity research in South East Asia for NatWest Markets, based in Thailand. Prior to that he was Senior Investment Manager for the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest self-managed investment funds in the world. He held this position for seven years and was based in Abu Dhabi city. He has been working in emerging markets for twenty-five years.  Weafer was voted Russia’s top country strategist in the 2007 All-Russia survey carried out by the financial service group, Thomson-Extel.

Weafer started his investment career in 1979 as an analyst with the Irish Life Assurance Company in Dublin, then the country’s largest mutual and pension fund manager, leaving as Senior Portfolio Manager and Head of Research eight years later.

Sberbank, Russia's biggest lender and oldest bank, earlier this year purchased the private investment banking outfit, Troika Dialog, for $1 billion. The acquisition of Troika Dialog will allow Sberbank to develop a global presence as the investment bank has branches in in New York, London, Kiev, Almaty and Nicosia.

Chris Weafer Uralsib Corporation