Monocrystal Inc. announced the appointment of Oleg V. Kachalov to its chief executive officer position. Kachalov will succeed Andrey V. Kravchenko, who was promoted to vice president at Energomera Electronic Materials and will supervise the company as part of his responsibilities. Joining the company in 2002, Kachalov has held several positions at the company, including chief technical officer and vice president of sales and marketing. His prior experience includes research and lecturing in advanced materials for solid-state electronics at Stavropol State Technical University (SSTU) and a scientific fellowship at Hamburg University of Technology (HHUT). Monocrystal provides sapphire products and metallization pastes to the semiconductor, optical and solar industries. Its product portfolio includes large diameter sapphire substrates for LED and RFIC applications, and lead-free scanning printing pastes for silicon wafer-based solar cells. For more information, visit: www.monocrystal.com