The collapse of the Soviet Union gave way to a period of chaos that persisted throughout the 90’s.
The new CIFAL directors (Jacques MENDELOVICI, CEO, and Gilles RÉMY, director of the Russian regional office) thus made a three-part strategic decision:
to concentrate on large projects, working with major European industrial groups
to refocus on Russia, providing consulting services in the oil industry and developing commercial services in the nuclear industry
to put all the company’s resources to work for the establishment of a presence in the newly-independent Central Asian and Caspian states
It was at this time that CIFAL introduced and accompanied several major French groups such as Bouygues and Thomson/Thalès to the new Central Asian markets, thus playing a pioneering role in the development of French presence in the region. CIFAL established offices in Kazakhstan in 1991, in Turkmenistan in 1993, in Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan in 1996 and in Uzbekistan in 2000. In most cases, a permanent presence was established shortly after the signing of a first major contract.
The appointment of Gilles RÉMY as CIFAL CEO in 1995 was followed by the mass promotion of local executives within all regional branches; some also becoming company shareholders. Jean-Claude ABEILLON has succeeded Gilles RÉMY as head of CIFAL’s Representative Office in Moscow.
In 1999, CIFAL participated in the creation of AGS, a commercial services company based in the city of Dubai, a major crossroad for trade between the Middle-East, the Indian sub-continent and Central Asia. CIFAL was thus able to expand its client and business relationship portfolio and to reinforce its knowledge and presence in the field of financial engineering.
By the end of the 90’s, CIFAL had become the sole western commercial services company present in all parts of the Central Asian/Caspian region. This unique expertise allows it to work on industrial projects on both national and regional levels.