Cherkizovo Group announced the appointment of John Ross to the newly-created role of Chief Operating Officer. John Ross was most recently President of Arasco Food (Saudi Arabia). Prior to this, he was at Zacky Farms for over 20 years, working his way up from Operations Manager to President of the company. He began his career at Cargill. At Cherkizovo Group, John Ross will be responsible for the production functions across the Group's five business segments. Unifying the management of the segments' operations will enhance the Group's vertical integration capabilities and drive further efficiencies. John Ross will report directly to Sergey Mikhailov, CEO of the company, who, up until this appointment, has been responsible for operations. The redistribution of operational functions to the new COO will allow Sergey Mikhailov to focus more on the Group's strategic business development and global strategy.