Slepnev was appointed in May 2018. During his work in the REC he managed to increased export of mechanical engineering, light industry, agro-industrial complex, mineral fertilizers companies.

He also created a joint project with Dr. Volker Trayer, the foreign economic activity manager of the German Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The project Contact Bureau of Russian-German Trade was aimed at finding potential buyers of Russian products in Germany, as well as in the opposite direction - to find Russian suppliers at the request of German companies.

During first Russia-Africa economic forum in October 2019 REC intoroduced platforms to support trade deals between African countries.

Andrei Slepnev to be replaced by Veronika Olegovna Nikishina, member of the Trade Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, PhD in Economics. Prior to her appointment as a member of the Board of the Commission, she held the position of Assistant First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and prior to that - senior positions in the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.

Veronika Nikishina has extensive experience in management positions, identification and elimination of trade barriers, application of trade protection measures, as well as experience in international negotiations.

Nikishina currently oversees several important projects for the Eurasian Economic Union, such as customs and non-tariff regulation, the establishment of preferential trade regimes with third countries, the application of protective measures by the Eurasian Economic Union.

The May Presidential Decrees of 2018 set as one of the strategic development goals the increase of non-resource non-energy exports to $250 billion by 2024.

The new head of the REC is facing a big goal and in this regard it is expected to strengthen the organization, a new view and active work on the set tasks, promising and modern projects.