Maxim Behar, a prominent Bulgarian PR and social media expert has been appointed Chairman of Hill+ Knowlton Strategies office in the Czech Republic, the company announced from Prague.

He will also act as an extended member of the regional management team with a responsibility for the Czech operation.

Behar is the Treasurer and an Executive Board member of the International Communication Consultancy Organization (ICCO), a two-term President and now Deputy President of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF), and President (2009-2011) of the Bulgarian Association of PR Agencies (BAPRA).

In May 2011, Maxim Behar's M3 Communications Group, Inc. received the "Eastern European Consultancy of the Year" award for 2011 by The Holmes Report, the world's top independent research organization for communications and PR.

Behar founded M3 Communications Group, Inc., the Bulgarian PR leader, in 1994, and has been running it ever since.

"We are convinced that the knowledge and experience Maxim will bring from his experience of establishing M3 successfully will be very beneficial to our Czech operation. We would expect that his knowledge of the Czech market will strengthen our brand in the market place, and it demonstrates our investment in having highly experienced and well recognized leaders," said Lars Erik Gronntun, European President of Hill+Knowlton Strategies.

The new Hill+Knowlton Czech Chairman graduated with a High Economic Degree from the University in Prague; he has a long-lasting experience in Czech media, and journalistic experience from Poland, the USA, Russia, Germany, and other countries. Behar is also the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Seychelles in Bulgaria.

"I accept the challenge which I take very seriously and I am certain that Hill+Knowlton Strategies has the potential to be among the leaders on the Czech PR market", Maxim Behar said.

He will remain the CEO & Chairman of the Board of M3 Communications Group, Inc., in Bulgaria, which has been an affilitate of Hill+Knowlton Strategies (formerly Hill&Knowlton) for almost 12 years.