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Sergei Kushchenko, Mikhail Prokhorov's chief sports advisor and former general manager of CSKA Moscow, has been named to the Nets board of directors. Kushchenko is a new member of the board.
Prokhorov made the appointment Friday at Kushchenko's 50th birthday party. "Everyone is excited about him being a director, he loves and knows the game very well," Christophe Charlier, the Nets chairman, told NetsDaily through a spokesperson. Kushchenko also received congratulations from David Stern.
Kushchenko ran CSKA Moscow under Prokhorov when it won the Euroleague in 2006 and 2008. He was named Executive of the Year in 2006. It was he, among others, who pushed Prokhorov to join up with the NBA, long before Prokhorov agreed to buy majority control of the Nets in 2009. His elevation could signal a more active role for the most basketball savvy member of Team Prokhorov. It's unlikely he'll have an operational role with the Nets due to his duties as executive director of the Russian Biathlon Union, a full-time job.
- Sergei Kuschenko joined the board of directors of the NBA's "New Jersey" (Google Translation) - RIA Novosti
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Kushchenko to Board of Directors of Nets (Google Translation) - SovSport
Both Prokhorov and Bruce Ratner nominate members to the board. At the beginning of last season, the board had four members chosen by Prokhorov, including its chairman, Charlier, a long time aide to the Nets owner; Irina Pavlova, who directs Prokhorov's sports holdings in the US; and Todd D. Schafer, his American lawyer, Neither Prokhorov, whose title is principal owner, nor his No. 2 at Onexim Group, Dmitry Razumov, are members of the board. That's reportedly to insulate Onexim and its interlocking set of subsidiaries from any legal liabilities of the Nets and vice-versa.