... as chief counsel joins Weil Gotshal

EBRD is losing its chief counsel to Weil Gotshal & Manges' London office.

Bill Rubin, who has been head of the department for six years, is joining the US firm as a partner to strengthen its growing project finance practice in Europe.

Weil Gotshal's head of project finance Bruce Johnston says: "It's the experience that Bill has in project finance and also the experience in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union that attracted us.

"We are building a projects team and we need additional recruits - we are trying to grow throughout Europe."

Johnston says that he hopes Rubin will bring work from the EBRD, but he insists that is not the reason he was hired.

During his tenure at EBRD, Rubin has led transactions in the transport, telecommunications, oil and gas, mining, power, water, steel and automotive sectors.

His biggest projects to date include the first private sector gold mining project in Russia and a motorway toll project in Hungary.