Today many Google readers were checking for the Irina Pavlova on the Search Engine. Who is that Russian lady, capturing so much of attention? You would be surprised, but the interest came from the sport breakthrough news.
The new owner of the New Jersey Nets, Russian Mikhail Prokhorov, has appointed Irina Pavlova as president of the company that will oversee his ownership of the Nets and their new stadium he’s building.
“She will work closely with the management structure of the Nets to create all conditions necessary for successful development of the team,” he said.
Pavlova has extensive experience in business and finance. She earned an MBA from Stanford University, worked as a financial analyst with Prudential Investment Corp. and became Russia’s first employee for Google. She lived in Moscow and Washington as a child. She’s fluent in Russian, English and Spanish.
Prokhorov, a billionaire who is Russia’s richest man, immediately fired the club director and has promised to revive the last-place Nets and bring them to the top in the nearest future. His company, Onexim, described Pavlova as the “perfect bridge between Russia and the United States.”
“She will establish the company’s office (in New York) and cooperate closely with the Nets management to ensure they have everything they need to build a championship team,” Onexim said in a statement.
Pavlova will coordinate the development project in Brooklyn that is to become the Nets’ new home. The long-delayed arena is expected to open in 2012. Prokhorov agreed to buy 80 percent of the Nets and 45 percent of the arena project from developer Bruce Ratner last year.
In the recent interview to The New York Times, Mikhail Prokhorov announced “America, I came with piece!”
I should also confess that I was not successful to find online any pictures of Irina Pavlova, neither in English, nor in Russian publications.
