The 2014 Emerging EMEA Research Team: Oil & Gas, No. 2: Oleg Maximov & team

Under the leadership ofOleg Maximov, Sberbank CIB’s three-person team holds on to the No. 2 position for a second year in a row. “I can always count on him to tell me about the macroeconomic issues impacting the sector,” says one supporter. The conflict in Ukraine, whose impact is extending beyond Russia and its neighboring countries to Eastern Europe, is dominating the Russian stock market in general and oil and gas names in particular, the Moscow-based analysts advise. Also affecting the sector regionwide are the rapid slowdown of Russia’s economy, concerns about that nation’s political and business dealing with China, and the impact of “the continuing globalization of the gas market,” says Maximov. In this context, the Sberbank researchers are sticking with long-standing favorite Gazprom, which is both Russia’s biggest company and the world’s largest producer of natural gas. The behemoth benefits from rising gas exports, they note, and deem its valuation attractive. Gazprom’s global depositary receipts were trading at $8.15 at the end of May, and Maximov’s squad forecasts a rise to $12.