SG/A/1015
BIO/3789
PI/1732
22 August 2006

Secretary-General Appoints Vlastimil Samek as Representative of United Nations Department of Public Information in Kazakhstan

NEW YORK, 21 August (UN Headquarters) -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Vlastimil Samek as the Representative of the Department of Public Information in the United Nations Office in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  Mr. Samek, a national of the Czech Republic, comes to this post with extensive experience in communications and public relations.  He took up his duties on 17 August.

Mr. Samek joins the United Nations after having served as the Minister-Counsellor for the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic.  He has also served as senior adviser on international relations and communications with Cautor Consulting, and has been the senior advisor to the president and CEO on communications with various corporate entities.

In addition, Mr. Samek has served as the Head of the Czech Embassy in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; as Deputy Head of the Czech Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and as Head of the Embassy of Czechoslovakia in Yangon, Myanmar.

Mr. Samek has a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Economics and International Relations in Prague.

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