Russell Taylor is a non- executive director and adviser to several international exhibition businesses. He has been involved in the international exhibition industry for more than 20 years, with experience covering businesses in Russia, Central Asia, China, India, Asia, UK and various European markets.
Russell started his business life as an accountant, but soon became specialized in the exhibition and conference world. He was CEO of ITE Group plc from 2007 to 2016, since when he has worked on a number of international exhibition projects including Global Sources in Hong Kong, non-executive Chairman of a UK based exhibition business  and advising the Board of CEO in Central Asia.
Russell lives in London with his wife and three daughters. He continues to work on his portfolio of non-executive and advisory positions, as well as being a busy family man.

Parviz Shahbazov was born in Baku on November 24, 1969. He studied at Azerbaijan State Oil Academy, 1986-1992, and did military service in 1988-1989.

He worked as an attaché in the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Federal Republic of Germany during the period of 1992-1996 and served as the Second Secretary, First Secretary, Head of Division for Europe, and Deputy Head of the Department for Europe, United States of America and Canada of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the period 1996-2001. He then served as Advisor and Chargé d'affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Austria during the period 2001-2005. He was the Chairman of the Security Cooperation Forum of the OSCE in 2005. After that, he was appointed as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Federal Republic of Germany in 2005 and served in this position till 2016. He served as the Ambassador-at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan during the period 2016-2017. He was appointed as the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan on October 12, 2017. He is fluent in Azerbaijani (native), Russian, English and German. He is married and has two children.

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne is a Peer of the Realm and a member of the House of Lords.

Baroness Nicholson serves as the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iraq and Turkmenistan. She is a member of the House of Lords Select Committee on European Affairs and of the UK-EU Parliamentary Assembly. Her work is focussed on foreign policy, business, industry and the creative arts.

Baroness Nicholson served as Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1983 - 1987.  She was elected to the House of Commons in 1987 as Member of Parliament for the constituency of Torridge and West Devon.  She was appointed to the House of Lords in 1997.

She was elected to the European Parliament for two terms of office where she served as First Vice President of the House Senior Committee for Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Defence and Security Policy and was a vice chair and member of other committees including Agriculture, Finance and Women’s Affairs.

She served as European Parliament Rapporteur for Iraq, Kashmir, and Romania and Shadow Rapporteur for a number of other countries.  She founded and chaired the Inter-parliamentary delegation between the European Parliament and Iraq.

Baroness Nicholson served as official Election Leader and Observer in thirty-two nations in Europe, Africa, the Persian Gulf, Asia and the Indian subcontinent including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Russia, Moldova, Kenya and Zambia. 

She subsequently served one term in and remains an Honorary member of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

Baroness Nicholson holds seven honorary doctorates. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music, gaining LRAM and ARCM.  Her career was in computer software technology, computer systems analysis and computer consultancy.

Originally, from Cordoba in Spain, Cristina Lobillo Borrero is a lawyer with qualifications from Spain, Belgium and the Harvard Business School.
Having previously worked in the Spanish government for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, she joined the European Commission in 2004, working originally on agriculture policy and then moving to trade issues.
From 2014 to 2019 she was the Head of Cabinet to the then EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete. As Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete was the EU’s chief negotiator in the COP, she was present in Paris for parts of the COP21 session and therefore had an important role in the EU team. Former Commissioner’s term in office was also noted for its successful overhaul of EU energy legislation under the so-called Clean energy for all Europeans package.
From December 2019 to June 2020, she was Principal Adviser at the Directorate General for Agriculture and, since 16 June 2020, she is Director for Energy Policy: Strategy and Coordination in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy. In this role, she was heavily involved in the preparation of new EU proposals on energy efficiency and renewable energy that were published on July 14. Her responsibilities as Director also include overseeing EU international relations on energy issues, coordination with Member States as well as with the EU institutions, together with the communication, legal and economic aspects of EU energy policy.

Virgil-Daniel Popescu, Minister of Energy, Romania Dr. Virgil-Daniel Popescu was appointed Romanian Minister of Energy on December 2020. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Popescu served as Minister of Economy, Energy and Business Environment. He had been serving also as Vice-president of the Commission of Industry and Services, at the Chamber of Deputies, Romanian Parliament. He is also a member of the Romanian Parliament since 2016. Minister Popescu is also involved in academic, scientific and research activities, working as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Craiova University. Mr. Popescu holds a PhD in Management awarded by the Craiova University and a degree in Engineering/Automation from the Politehnica University of Bucharest, Romania.

Jozef Síkela was born on 17 June 1967 in Rokycany. He started Primary school in Zbiroh, but in 1974 the whole family moved to Brno, where he completed his primary education with expanded teaching of foreign languages. In 1986 he graduated at a secondary economic school and was accepted for study at the Prague University of Economics and Business. He graduated as an economic engineer in 1991. In the same year he was selected in an audition to join the prestigious banking study programme of the Austrian Creditanstalt AG in Vienna, where he worked until 1995.

Then he returned to Prague, where he worked in various positions in the field of credit risk management and corporate banking, initially at Bank Austria Creditanstalt, later in the leadership of insurance company Česká spořitelna, a.s., (Erste Group) until 2006.

In 2006 he became the first vice-chairman of the Board and deputy general manager, later chairman of the board and general manager of Erste Bank in Ukraine.

Thanks to the successful consolidation of Erste Ukraine, he was named chairman of the board and general director of the Slovak insurance company Slovenská spořitelna in 2010. At its head he succeeded in achieving historic results, with the bank repeatedly gaining the title of Bank of the Year, and in 2013 Jozef Síkela was awarded the title Banker of the Year and nominated as Manager of the Year. Under his leadership the bank was also awarded the title of Most Valuable Brand in Slovakia.

In 2015, Jozef Síkela was named a member of the board of Erste Group Bank AG, parent company of the Erste group. In this position he was responsible for corporate and investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, real estate financing including communal living, business finance, financial markets and macroeconomic analysis. His responsibilities included the above-mentioned activities of the Erste group on all “domestic markets” of Erste in the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, as well as in the so-called extended markets in Germany, Poland and Switzerland. His direct responsibilities included the Erste Group branches in London, New York and Hong Kong. During 2017–2019 Jozef Síkela devoted himself intensely to the programme of banking development for small and medium-sized companies throughout the Erste group.

In connection with the departure of long-time chairman of the board and general manager Andreas Treichl, Jozef Síkela decided to abandon his banking career and after a year-long “family holiday”, in 2021 he began devoting himself to advisory and investment activities.

Jozef Síkela is married, with his wife Pavlína they have a  daughter Natálka.

His passions include listening to music, namely rock, jazz and classical, his hobbies further include literature and film.

Mr. Lin Shanqing has been Deputy Administrator of the State Oceanic Administration, P. R. China, since 2016. He was Mayor of Beihai City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region from 2015 to 2016, after being the executive vice-mayor from 2012 to 2015. From 2010 to 2012, he was the Country Party Secretary in Heng County, Nanning City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. From 2008 to 2010, he was the Director General of the Department of Marine Forecast and Disaster and from 2000 to 2008, the Deputy Director General of the Department of Eco-Environment Protection. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Lin was Senior Engineer, Director of Environmental Protection Department and Director of Monitoring Center in the North China Sea Branch of the State Oceanic Administration. From 1985 to 1993 he was Assistant Engineer in the North China Sea Branch of the State Oceanic Administration.

Constantin Borosan is a State Secretary in the field of Energy, with a strong academic background in energy systems and technologies. He has been a key figure in driving forward Moldova's energy security.

As Director Executive of the National Energy Council, he has played an important role in shaping national energy policy. He is also a scientific researcher at the Institute of Energy, where he works on energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.

Constantin Borosan is fluent in Romanian, Russian, and English. His expertise and dedication to the promotion of sustainable energy make him a valuable asset to any international forum.

Mr Lentz, a national of Luxembourg, has a wealth of experience in the energy sector, including acting as Coordinator for the EU on international energy policies and a Member of the European Energy Regulator's administrative board. He has over 30 years of international work experience in the energy sector.

Before joining the Energy Charter Secretariat, Mr Lentz served for two decades as Diplomatic Counselor at the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the EU in Brussels, where he was responsible for coordinating the EU and international energy policies.

During the EU Presidency of Luxembourg in 2005, he worked in the cabinet of the then President of the European Council, Mr Juncker, and was responsible for developing Lisbon Strategy and the Sustainable Development Charter in liaison with the Prime Minister Office. 

Mr Lentz has vast experience working with European institutions, where he mostly served as the representative of Luxembourg. He was also engaged, among others, as representative of Luxembourg to the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG), to the Administrative Board of ACER and as Governor in the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Also, Mr Lentz was the Representative of Luxembourg to the International Energy Charter since 2005 and Vice-Chair of the Energy Charter Modernisation Group and Governance Group until his appointment as Secretary-General.

From 2015 to 2018, Mr Lentz worked as Special Adviser in the Cabinet of Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete for Climate Action and Energy.

Mr Lentz steered international cooperation on issues related to global energy transformation and renewable energy. Most notably during that time, he acted as Chair of the Assembly of IRENA in 2012, the Chair of the Energy Working Party at the EU Council in 2015 and the Chair of IRENA Council in 2019.

During his tenure at the Permanent Representation, he has also served as Board Member and Senior representative of Luxembourg at Société Générale de l'Our and Enovos Luxembourg.

Before joining the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg, Mr Lentz held some managerial positions in the private sector. As the CEO of Action Tee, Mr Lentz was engaged in all aspects of managing a private-sector middle size company. Earlier in his career, Mr Lentz worked in the banking and insurance sector as a tax advisor at Banque Internationale in Luxembourg and at various managerial positions in Shell Belgium.

Mr Lentz holds academic qualifications from the University of Saint-Louis and Catholic University of Louvain and a Master's degree in European Affairs of the College d'Europe. Since 2016, Mr Lentz also regularly lectures on energy topics at the University of Luxembourg and the Catholic University of Lille.

Gordon Birrell is the Executive Vice President of Production&Operations for bp and is accountable for the safe, reliable and efficient running of bp’s refineries and oil and gas production assets. This also includes responsibility for exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources. Prior to that, Gordon was bp's Upstream Chief Operating Officer for Production, Transformation and Carbon.Gordon joined bp in 1986 and has extensive leadership experience including Regional President for Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey; Head of Safety and Operational Risk for Upstream. He also held senior positions in Canada, Alaska and the North Sea. He was also COO and CEO of Upstream. He was chairman of the International Oil and Gas Producers Association (IOGP) for two years. Gordon is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology

Rovshan Najaf Rovshan Chingiz oglu Najaf was born on April 9, 1982 in Baku, Azerbaijan. In 1997, he went to the Faculty of International Economic Relations of the Azerbaijan State University of Economics. He graduated with honours from the bachelor’s program in 2001 and Master’s program in 2003. In 2007-2008 he successfully completed the Master’s program in Economic Policy Management / International Energy Management and Policy at Columbia University, USA within the framework of the SOCAR scholarship program.

He started his career in 2001 as a laboratory assistant at the Department of International Economic Relations and Marketing of the Azerbaijan State University of Economics. In 2003-2007, he worked as a consultant and senior adviser in the Investment Policy Unit of the Investment and International Economic Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 2008-2009, he worked as the Head of the Investment Contracts Unit of the Investment Department of SOCAR. In 2009-2010, he was the Head of the Foreign Economic Relations Department and Assistant Minister of Economic Development at the Ministry of Economic Development. In 2010-2018, he worked as the Deputy Executive Director and Executive Director of “Azerbaijan Investment Company” OJSC.

He was appointed as the Head of the Innovative Development and e-Government Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order issued by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on May 11, 2018, as the Chairman of the Financial Monitoring Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order issued on August 28, 2019, as the Deputy Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order issued on February 11, 2020, as the First Deputy Minister of Economy by the Order issued on December 24, 2021. He was appointed as the First Vice President and Acting President of the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan by the Order issued by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on February 10, 2022. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed an order on 21.07.22 on appointment of Rovshan Chingiz oglu Najaf as president of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).

He holds a PhD in Economics, is the 3rd degree State Counsellor. Married, has two children.

Gary is a proven business leader with almost 40 years of experience. He is currently the Regional President for bp's Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey business.
He began his career with bp in 1981 and has held many leadership positions in drilling, operations and projects. This included heading bp's operations in Iraq as general manager Rumaila / vice president operations, serving as a key leader in Russia as the project director/performance unit leader -Verkhnechonskoye, and holding multiple senior leadership positions across bp's North Sea asset base.
Gary has a significant operations and technology delivery experience and a track record of building strong partnerships with national oil companies.
Gary holds a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Birmingham.

Mr. Ruslan Alikhanov is an experienced industry leader with a distinguished career that spans over twenty five years across various industries, from strategic consulting to energy, transportation, and investments.

Mr. Alikhanov received his bachelor’s degree in international law from Baku State University in 1997. During 1995-1996 he completed the exchange program in finance at the Missouri State University, and in 2000 obtained a Master of Science degree in finance from Texas A&M University.

Mr. Alikhanov's career path began in 1996 at the World Bank, where he served as a projects specialist. In 2000, he joined Dell in the USA as a strategic business manager. From 2001 to 2013, he held various positions at McKinsey and Company. Following his tenure at McKinsey, he assumed key roles at FESCO Transportation Group, Argo Investment Company, and BCG.

As the Chief Executive Officer of Azerbaijan Investment Holding (AIH) since 2020, Mr. Ruslan Alikhanov oversees a diverse portfolio of the country's largest state-owned enterprises. Mr. Alikhanov actively contributes to the strategic development of a number of portfolio companies also as a member of the Supervisory Boards of SOCAR, Azerbaijan Airlines, Azerbaijan Railways, and as a Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Azer-Turk Bank.

Musabbeh is the Executive Director of Low Carbon Solutions & International Growth Directorate at ADNOC. This new business directorate, created in November 2022,is focused on driving investments in new energies and low carbon solutions as well as international growth in areas such as gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and chemicals.

Musabbeh currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Mubadala Energy, and Yahsat. He is also a board member of Masdar, a global leader in renewable energy and sustainable development, Tabreed, a UAE-based regional utility leader and Emirates Global Aluminium, the world’s largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer and the biggest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas.

Musabbeh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geophysical Engineering from Colorado School of Mines and a Master of Sciences in Geoscience from Imperial College, London.

Senior Vice President for Gas Supply and Origination at Uniper Global Commodities SE and responsible for gas and hydrogen supplies from Azerbaijan, Eastern Europe, East Mediterranean region as well as North Africa for the Uniper Group.
Year of birth: 1960.
Education: higher education. Master in Petroleum Engineering and Degree in Business Administration.
Nationality: German.
Positions held in the last 5 years:
Since 2013: Senior Vice President, Gas Supply & Origination Uniper Global Commodities SE, Düsseldorf, Germany.

Jean-Luc GUIZIOU, is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Géologie de Nancy (1985) and Stanford University (MSc, 1988).

He is currently Senior Vice-President Europe, Exploration & Production at TotalEnergies.

He joined TotalEnergies in 1988 as a Research & Development project manager in geophysics. In 1993 he was transferred to Buenos-Aires as a Senior Geophysicist for Total Austral (Argentina). From 1996 to 1999, Mr Guiziou spent three years at TotalEnergies’s Corporate Finance in Paris, before taking the position of Vice-President, Americas, as a coordinator for exploration & production activities in the Southern Cone. From 2002 to 2006 he served as President of TotalEnergies E&P Canada in Calgary. From 2006 to 2008, he was Vice-President, Financial Operations at TotalEnergies’s Corporate Finance in Paris. He then was President of TotalEnergies United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi until 2013 and later held senior roles on M&A and structured finance at Total’s Corporate Finance until 2017. From 2017 to 2022 he was Managing Director of TotalEnergies E&P UK and UK Country Chair.

Pattabi Seshadri joined the Dallas office of Boston Consulting Group in 1997. He is a core member of the Energy and People & Organization practices. Pattabi is focused primarily on BCG's utilities and power work of the energy industry. He has worked with clients on a broad range of issues including strategy development, capabilities improvement, M&A, reorganization, benchmarking, practice-process development, and new-business launches. 
Pattabi has deep experience in the US power utility industry, covering regulated, hybrid, and merchant categories. He has experience across the power value chain, including power generation, trading, transmission and distribution, retail, and customer service; across alternative energy topics, including wind, solar, and energy storage; and across the gas value chain, including gas supply, operations, and customer service. 
Pattabi has served a number of top 20 electric and gas utility executive teams. In his role as leader of the firm’s South System Energy practice, Pattabi has successfully led a number of client engagements. He also works with clients in developing renewable energy strategies, renewable portfolio performance improvements, partnering strategies, customer and go-to-market planning in distributed generation and behind-the-meter services, and new energy source integration (EE, DR, distributed generation, storage, and more). 
Prior to joining BCG, Pattabi was a transportation planning and economics consultant at Louis Berger International.

Zsombor MARTON is MOL Group’s Exploration and Production Executive Vice President and
member of the MOL Group Management Committee effective from 1 February 2023. Since 16
January 2023 he is a member of the INA Management Board.
He has been working at MOL Group for 15 years in various positions and has vast experience
in both management and Exploration and Production. As an international experience, he
spent two years in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where he performed the duties of the
company's Financial Director and Deputy Managing Director, from where he returned home
to the MOL Hungary organization as Financial Director at the end of 2015. He led MOL
Hungary’s Exploration and Production business from October 2017 to April 2021. From April
2021 to September 2022, he was the Vice President of Downstream MOL and to this day, he
is the CEO of MOL Petrochemicals Co. Ltd. From 1st October 2022, he was appointed as Senior
Vice President of the Group Downstream Chemicals organization – from which position he is
now promoted to lead MOL Group E&P. Zsombor graduated from the University of Miskolc
with an MSc degree in economics, and later in Oil and Gas Engineering.

Dr. Vitaliy Baylarbayov is the Deputy Vice-President of SOCAR for Investments and Marketing. Dr. Baylarbayov has over 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and holds a PhD in Economics. Awarded orders and medals of the Republic of Azerbaijan and foreign states.
He is a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators and has held executive positions in  the negotiations and management of a number of major oil and gas projects, including the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oilfields, the Shah Deniz gas/condensate field, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, and the Southern Gas Corridor Projects, including the expansion of the Southern Caucasus Pipeline and the establishment of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). Dr. Baylarbayov heads the Southern Gas Corridor Gas Value Chain Integration Team, is a Chairman of the board of SOCAR-UNIPER LLC, a Chairman of the boards of the Sarmatia Crude Oil Pipeline Project and of the AGRI LNG project.

Originally, from Cordoba in Spain, Cristina Lobillo Borrero is a lawyer with qualifications from Spain, Belgium and the Harvard Business School.
Having previously worked in the Spanish government for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, she joined the European Commission in 2004, working originally on agriculture policy and then moving to trade issues.
From 2014 to 2019 she was the Head of Cabinet to the then EU Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete. As Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete was the EU’s chief negotiator in the COP, she was present in Paris for parts of the COP21 session and therefore had an important role in the EU team. Former Commissioner’s term in office was also noted for its successful overhaul of EU energy legislation under the so-called Clean energy for all Europeans package.
From December 2019 to June 2020, she was Principal Adviser at the Directorate General for Agriculture and, since 16 June 2020, she is Director for Energy Policy: Strategy and Coordination in the European Commission’s Directorate General for Energy. In this role, she was heavily involved in the preparation of new EU proposals on energy efficiency and renewable energy that were published on July 14. Her responsibilities as Director also include overseeing EU international relations on energy issues, coordination with Member States as well as with the EU institutions, together with the communication, legal and economic aspects of EU energy policy.

Luca joined TAP as Managing Director in June 2017. Luca has over 25 years of experience in the development and management of pipelines, plant construction, and the operation and maintenance of gas transmission and distribution companies in Italy and Europe. Throughout his career, Luca has held several executive management roles, including Chief Executive Officer of Italgas. His most recent positions were Chief Industrial Assets Officer of Snam, as well as Managing Director at Snam Rete Gas S.p.A. Luca has a degree in Nuclear Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Dr. Michael Hilmer has over 20 years of experience in the natural gas and energy business. He is Vice President of Uniper responsible for Gas Supply and Origination in the region South, which at Uniper spans from the Caspian region via Turkey to North Africa and parts of the middle East.
rnUniper was formed in January 2016 out of the up- and midstream business of the German E.ON group consisting of a global LNG, coal, hydrogen and natural gas business as well as a large fleet of power plants in Germany, UK and Sweden. The core E.ON group was founded by merging the traditional German power and gas companies VEBA, VIAG and Ruhrgas in the early 2000s. Since 2022, Uniper is owned by the German state.
rnMichael started his professional career in 2001 working at the Dutch state-owned gas company Gasunie in the Netherlands and joined the German Ruhrgas in 2003. Since then, he held various positions in the long-term gas supply business. As key account manager he was responsible for long-term gas supply contracts from Norway, UK and Denmark and for developing new supply sources and various projects. Since 2013, he has been negotiating and managing Uniper’s long-term gas supply contract from Azerbaijan and developing various projects and other business activities in the region South.
rnHe is member of the Board of Directors of SOCAR-UNIPER LLC, a Joint Venture company in Azerbaijan and is the designated Board Member of Uniper’s new trading company in Turkey. As a Member of the Board of the German-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce (AHK), he is actively supporting bilateral business development activities.
rnMichael holds a PhD in Physics, Oceanography and Meteorology from the University of Kiel, Germany. He is married, has one child, and holds a private pilot license

Mr. Răzvan Popescu took over as CEO of S.N.G.N. ROMGAZ S.A, the largest gas producer in Romania, in August 2022, after almost two years as CFO of the company. As CEO Mr. Popescu coordinates and ensures the management of the company with the aim of accomplishing its strategic objectives.
rn
rnAs CFO Mr. Popescu coordinated, from the finance point of view, the Sale and Purchase Agreement regarding all shares issued by (representing 100% of the share capital of) ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited holding 50% of the rights and obligations under the Petroleum Agreement for the offshore XIX Neptun Deep Block in the Black Sea. That was the most important successfully concluded transaction in the last 30 years in the Romanian energy sector, in line with the company’s development strategy, aimed at ensuring energy security in the region.
rn
rnHis almost nine year of experience gained in BNR, The National Bank of Romania, within the Management of International Reserves, enabled him to obtain in-depth knowledge of the global financial markets and trade credit instruments, as well as factors influencing development of such in the asset allocation process. Mr. Popescu accumulated a significant experience in analysis and trade on international currency markets, in risk management and financial analysis, such experience being reflected in the financial performance obtained by S.N.G.N. Romgaz S.A. during his mandate.

Teodora Georgieva has more than 20 years of experience as a strategic manager, leading significant projects in various economic sectors. Currently, Mrs. Georgieva is the Executive Officer of the Bulgarian side of the project company ICGB and is also a member of the Management Board. ICGB is responsible for the overall management and development of the gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria and will soon be an independent transmission system operator. 
From 2012 to 2014 Teodora Georgieva was Managing Director of Nabucco Bulgaria, and before that she worked at OMV Bulgaria for 13 years, 8 of which she was Managing Director of the company, holding cluster positions for Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Georgieva was the coordinator for Bulgaria of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), in 2009 and 2010 she was awarded as Manager of the Year and is in the list of the top 10 Bulgarian managers. 
She graduated from the University of National and World Economy and has a master's degree in Finance. Married, with two children.

Katerina has been with bp for 23 years and has held several technical and commercial roles in the company. She has worked on various gas commercial issues including gas sales and transportation negotiations, and strategy development since the early 2000s. Katerina is a PhD in chemical engineering.

Togrul Kocharli joined SOCAR Trading in 2013 to manage company’s participation in infrastructure projects. In his current position as Chief Development Officer, he coordinates the SOCAR Trading’s business development activities, oversees the company’s project portfolio and leads the team focused on identifying opportunities for expansion of asset-based trading activities around the globe.

Togrul is a graduate of University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and prior to joining SOCAR Trading, worked as an Associate at Unicredit Group’s Corporate and Investment Banking team based in Vienna advising on M&A transactions and later on as an Associate Director for VCP Capital Partners. Between 2008 and 2012, Togrul managed Caspian International Investment Company, joint equity investment fund of Gulf-based investors and the Azerbaijan Investment Company.

Mr. Friedrich Portner is the Chief Commercial Officer of the Maritime Cluster at AD Ports Group, engaged in the domestic and international expansion of the Maritime services portfolio.
 
Friedrich is a senior executive with two decades of experience in the Energy/Oil & Gas sector, having worked across all elements of the value chain, such as NOCs/IOCs, Oil Field Services, OEMs/ EPC and Offshore Logistics

Recent accolades include leading negotiations relating to the formation of a JV between AD Ports Group and Kazmortransflot (KMTF) creating Caspian Integrated Maritime Solutions (CIMS) a leading provider of offshore and shipping solutions across the Caspian region.

Prior to joining AD Ports Group, he was the General Manager for OFCO – Offshore International, a JV between AD Ports Group and Allianz Marine and Logistics Services, a maritime, shipping, logistics and subsea services company who offer integrated solutions to support Oil &Gas /construction clientele.
 
With hands-on management and operational industry experience, expertise and leadership in strategy, acquisitions and investments, operational enhancement and business transformations, he led many companies including Allianz Holding, Schlumberger ME, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in advisory and senior management positions.
Mr. Friedrich Portner is the Chief Commercial Officer of the Maritime Cluster at AD Ports Group, engaged in the domestic and international expansion of the Maritime services portfolio.
 
Friedrich is a senior executive with two decades of experience in the Energy/Oil & Gas sector, having worked across all elements of the value chain, such as NOCs/IOCs, Oil Field Services, OEMs/ EPC and Offshore Logistics

Recent accolades include leading negotiations relating to the formation of a JV between AD Ports Group and Kazmortransflot (KMTF) creating Caspian Integrated Maritime Solutions (CIMS) a leading provider of offshore and shipping solutions across the Caspian region.

Prior to joining AD Ports Group, he was the General Manager for OFCO – Offshore International, a JV between AD Ports Group and Allianz Marine and Logistics Services, a maritime, shipping, logistics and subsea services company who offer integrated solutions to support Oil &Gas /construction clientele.
 
With hands-on management and operational industry experience, expertise and leadership in strategy, acquisitions and investments, operational enhancement and business transformations, he led many companies including Allianz Holding, Schlumberger ME, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in advisory and senior management positions.

COURSES

Diplomacy and Foreign Policy
Contemporary Statecraft and Geopolitics
Thucydides, Geopolitics, Statesmanship
Contemporary Geopolitics
Theory and Practice of Executive Power

EDUCATION

Harvard Kennedy School, Senior Executive Program in National and International Security, Awarded a fellowship by the Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe at the Harvard Kennedy School.
China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP), Executive Leadership Development Program for Senior Foreign Officials.
Middlebury College, B.A. (cum laude) in Political Science (Political Philosophy and International Relations). Awarded the Julian E. and Melba Jarrett Prize for Excellence in the Study of Political Philosophy, Law and American Government.

Biographical Note:

Damjan Krnjević Mišković has served as a senior political strategist, diplomatic adviser, and crisis counselor at both international and national levels. He came to ADA University from Belgrade, Serbia, serving as Executive Director of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD) and Editor of its journal Horizons. Former appointments include: Senior Special Advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly; Senior Adviser and Chief Speechwriter to Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia; Director of Policy Planning and Analysis in the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Serbia; Special Adviser to the President of the Republic of Serbia; Fellow in European Studies at the Nixon Center (now Center for the National Interest); and Managing Editor of The National Interest.

Aygun Aftandil gizi Zeynalova was born in Baku.

She graduated from Baku State University with honors in international law.

She studied in France within the framework of the "2007-2015 State Program for the Education of Azerbaijani Youth in Foreign Countries" and received Master's degree in European and International Law from the University of Strasbourg.

She also studied in a Master program at the College of Europe of the Kingdom of Belgium with full scholarship from the European Union specializing in European Union law. She has received an LL.M degree in International Financial and Commercial Law from King's College London.

She started her career in 2012, as a lawyer at the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. She mainly worked in the private sector and has experience as a corporate lawyer and head of legal department. She held various managerial positions in the Financial Monitoring Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan and other institutions.

Aygun Zeynalova headed the Project implementation and legal department of AREA.

By the order of the Minister of Energy dated December 9, 2022, Aygun Zeynalova was appointed as the Deputy director of the Azerbaijan Renewable Energy Agency under the Ministry of Energy.

She has been engaged in teaching since 2014. She speaks English, French, Turkish, Russian, Dutch.

Afgan Isayev Elchin was born on November 3, 1974 in Baku. In 1981-1991 he studied at secondary school No.27 in Khatai district and finished school with honors. In 1992-1996, he studied Financial Economics and European Studies at the University of Rutgers in New Jersey. He graduated with distinction and awarded with BSc degree in Finance, BA degree in Economics with a minor in European studies.
He began his career in 1997-1998 as a strategic management advisor in the technical program for small business support at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA.
He received his MBA in Finance and Management Information Systems from Rutgers Graduate School of Management, New Jersey, United States in 1998.
From 1998 to 2000, he worked at American Express International Bank in New York as a regional financial analyst (Central Eastern Europe and CIS markets). During 2001-2002, he worked as a Risk Manager in the Strategic Alliances Group at American Express in New York. From 2002 to 2003, he worked as a Manager in the Portfolio Analysis Group at American Express in New York. In 2004, he became the deputy CEO of Bank of Baku OJSC in Baku, Azerbaijan, and was responsible for strategic development and international funding, and subsequently risk management until 2009. The next organisation where he pursued his career was Azerbaijan Investment Company ("AIC"), a state-owned equity fund. He worked as the executive director of AIC from 2009 until 2012. In 2012, he joined SOCAR as the General Manager of SOCAR Georgia Investments LLC. In 2013, he became the Adviser to the President of SOCAR and in 2014, he was appointed as the General Director of the Southern Gas Coridor CJSC in addition to his advisory role.

Anton Kosach is a key member of Boston Consulting Group’s Energy practice, and a Lead of the Climate & Sustainability practice in Energy sector of the Caspian region and CIS countries.
Since joining the firm in 2011, Anton has worked with oil and gas, and power clients on such topics as development, operational and organizational transformation, capex efficiency improvement, implementation of major capital investment projects, and renewables development.
Anton has led the implementation of a number of large-scale transformation programs for major vertically integrated and national companies, as well as projects related to organizational issues, preparation for IPO/privatization, PMI, and revision of operating models in oil and gas and power industries. For these client engagements, Anton has led multinational teams in Western Europe, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Caspian region.
Prior to joining BCG, Anton worked for Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and PwC

With over 20 years of experience in the Energy sector Chingiz accumulated a rich knowledge in financing, development and environmental aspects of the energy projects. During his career he managed financing of both conventional and renewable energy projects in multiple countries in Africa and Central Asia. Chingiz holds MSc degree in Environmental Economics from University of York. He is a Certified Energy Manager of Association of Energy Engineers.

Maryam Rashed Al Mazrouei is the Director of Business Development and Investment for Masdar’s Azerbaijan division. She focuses on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Russia region. With over six years of experience at Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy powerhouse, Maryam is also a Board Member for Masdar Azerbaijan Energy LLC.

Maryam's expertise lies in developing business opportunities, conducting comprehensive due diligence, including technical, commercial, legal, and financing analysis, preparing investment cases, and leading projects until the construction phase. She has successfully led several unique and high-profile projects within Masdar. They include the Cirata project in Indonesia, the largest floating solar plant in the region, and the Garadagh Solar PV Plant in Azerbaijan, the country's first foreign investment-based independent utility- scale solar project, structured as a public-private partnership.

Maryam completed her Master's in Engineering & Systems Management from the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology and a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from UAE University. Before joining Masdar, she interned with the Abu Dhabi Oil Refining Company (Takreer) and the Masdar Institute.

Maryam is the recipient of several prestigious awards, recognizing her outstanding academic achievements. She was named one of the UAE's top- performing university students for the academic year 2015-2016, received the Masdar Institute's Excellence Award for Academic Achievement in 2016, and the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Award for Excellent Academic Achievement in 2014. In 2018, Maryam was awarded Masdar's Rising Star Award.

Maryam has also participated as a speaker in several high-profile events, including side events at EXPO 2020 Dubai and the Mohamed bin Zayed Majlis for Future Generations. She has also taken part in high-level discussions as part of youth delegations, attending the International Climate Conference COP21 in Paris, COP22 in Morocco, and Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.

In addition to her formal qualifications, Maryam has passed the Chartered Financial Analyst Level 1 qualification and completed an executive qualification in Mergers and Acquisitions at the London Business School. Her diverse expertise, experience, and accolades make her a valuable asset to the Masdar team

Ahmad Humbatov is currently a Senior Fellow at the Energy and Sustainable Development Program of the Institute for Development and Diplomacy (IDD) of ADA University. Prior to rejoining the ADA University in October 2019, Mr. Humbatov worked at the World Bank office in Singapore, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) office in New York, and British Embassy in Baku. He holds a BA degree in International Relations from St. Petersburg State University in Russia, MA degree in International Affairs from ADA University, and MPP degree with honors in Development Economics from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) of the National University of Singapore and the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C., United States.

MSc in Mechanical Engineering with an MBA from Milan Polytechnic, Andrea Meola is serving as Global Director of Business Development within the Consulting Division of CESI.  With 20 years of Energy sector specific experience ranging from technical and technological aspects to economics and policies, over the last years Andrea has been actively contributing to the CESI mission of supporting critical energy infrastructures around the world by providing high level technical consulting services with a focus on Power Interconnections, Grid Modernization programs and RES & Storage deployments accomplished in highly innovative context as well as in developing and fragile environments.