Alexei Dorofeev Takes Helm of Nielsen and GfK's Combined Business in Russia

From May 2005 to June 2008, Dorofeev held the position of National Key Account Manager at Kraft Foods. He then moved to Wimm-Bill-Dann: in 2008–2010 he was Chef Customer Officer (National Key Accounts Director), after which he became National Traditional Milk Products Strategy Director.

At Samsung Electronics, Dorofeev worked from 2011 to 2013 as a Mobile Business Team Leader, and from 2013 to 2014 he held the post of Vice President, Head of Mobile Division Russia and Belarus. In 2015, he headed the Russian representative office of the Italian eyewear manufacturer Safilo as Managing Director Russia. Two years later, he expanded his scope of responsibility by becoming Managing Director CIS: Kazakhstan and Belarus were added to his remit.

Since September 2019, Dorofeev worked at GfK's Moscow office as vice president. Now, after more than five years at the company, he has become its co-owner and head of the combined business.

Background of the Deal

Signs of transformation in GfK's Russian division had appeared earlier. In January 2025, the Telegram channel of the GfK analytical agency (GfK-Rus LLC) changed its logo: Latin letters gave way to Cyrillic ones. At the same time, the channel's name and the information on the website remained unchanged.

The sale negotiations took longer. In the summer of 2024, Kommersant, citing sources in the electronics market, wrote that GfK-Rus LLC was to be sold to local management. According to the publication, the Russian office of GfK "began providing analytics without logos and preparing for a rebranding" from early summer. The new name, as assumed, could appear within one or two months.

At the time, the company explained the need for the sale by pressure from the Russian authorities, as well as by the policy of the group's American office. In the end, the process took more than a year: the deal closed only in the fall of 2025, and the owners turned out to include not only managers but also an outside investor, Leonovich.

What This Means for the Market

The consolidation of Nielsen and GfK's Russian assets under unified leadership brings together the two largest sources of consumer market data — retail panels and analytics of electronics, FMCG, and other categories. The goal declared by the new owners — maintaining research continuity — is addressed primarily to data providers: retail chains and manufacturers, whose contracts with the agencies must not be interrupted.

For the companies' clients, the key question is the fate of methodologies and the comparability of historical data after the change of ownership. Leonovich's statements about preserving access to expertise and data "for all market players" suggest that the product lineup will not undergo changes.