Nikolay Puntikov, President for Eastern Europe of Exigen Services has been elected chairman of the board of RUSSOFT non-profit partnership, the largest and the most influential professional association in the IT field, including over 80 software developer companies from Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia.

Nikolay Puntikov founded StarSoft in 1991 and remained its president and director general for over 15 years. Under his management, StarSoft become one of the leading players in the Russian custom software development industry. Since the merger of Exigen Services and StarSoft in February 2007, Nikolay Puntikov has been managing Exigen Services’ Eastern European operations.

Puntikov was first recruited into the board of RUSSOFT in April 2003. He was one of the initiators of the 2004 merger between the two largest professional associations in the field of software development, ARPO RUSSOFT and Fort Ross Consortium, under a single brand, and took active part in the consolidation process. The success of his future leadership in the steering body of RUSSOFT will be predicated upon his profound understanding of the needs of Russian IT industry, his hands-on knowledge of the international market, and many years of management experience.

“I see my task as the chairman of the board in coordinating the efforts of all members of RUSSOFT in adopting association-level strategic decisions aimed at growth and improved competitiveness, investment attractiveness and export potential of the Russian software development industry,” said Nikolay Puntikov.