Capturing New Markets

Irina Mirochnik

President, Ukrplastic

Mirochnik is a president of the company Ukrplastic, an Honored Industrialist of Ukraine and a Member of the Board of the European Rotogravure Association (ERA).

Mirochnik graduated from the Department of Cybernetics at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. She is the author of numerous research papers on improving chemical production processes and the strategic planning of innovative developments in the high-tech industry. From 1992 to 1998, Mirochnik held the position of deputy chairman of the board of SPA Agrokompleks. Before that, Mirochnik served at the Ministry of Water Resources of Ukraine. In 1998-2013, she served as the head of the supervisory board of Ukrplastic, and was responsible for organizing and supervising the financial and economic activities of the company.

Ukrplastic is one of the top 15 European companies in its field, and in the top 25 globally. In 2015, Mirochnik won the title of “Industrialist of the Year” in the “Person of the Year” national contest. Ukrplastic is continuing to develop technologies and implement international standards, providing the most demanding customers with high quality and safe products. Since 1999, the company has received awards from competitions run by professional printer associations such as the ERA, EFFIA, and GAA. In 2015, in addition to winning two awards, samples of packaging from Ukrplastic won two statuettes for “Best of the Best” from the Gravure Association of America (GAA). The company is a certified supplier for many transnational brands. Mirochnik is engaged in public and charitable activity, and has two daughters.

Close

Ramunas Freigofas

Policy Officer for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, European Commission

Freigofas is a policy officer for sanitary and phytosanitary measures for Eastern Partnership countries and Partnership and Cooperation Agreement countries in Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia in the Bilateral International Relations Unit at the Directorate-General of the European Commission (DG SANTE) in Brussels.

Before joining the European Commission in 2003, he was deputy head of the Animal Health and Imports Department at the State Food and Veterinary Service in Lithuania. He also worked at the German Ministry of Agriculture and Consumer Protection.

Freigofas graduated with a degree in veterinary medicine from Kaunas University in Lithuania, and received his doctoral degree at the Veterinary High School in Hannover, Germany.

He also holds a Master’s degree in international business administration from Vilnius University, Lithuania.

Close

Barlas Balcıoğlu

Managing Partner, Dentons’ Istanbul office

Balcıoğlu is a managing partner at Dentons’ Istanbul office and the head of its Banking and Finance and Real Estate teams. He focuses on major construction, infrastructure, real estate, banking and finance, and corporate transactions. Balcıoğlu has extensive experience in domestic and cross-border projects, joint ventures and greenfield development projects. He regularly advises multinational and Turkish companies, developers and financial institutions on construction, private and public partnerships, and project finance projects. Among his clients were OMV AG, Lehman Brothers, Standard Bank, Nabucco Pipeline Project, Kirrikkale Independent Power Project, and the Privatisation Administration of Turkey.

Prior to joining Dentons in 2007, Balcıoğlu worked at White & Case international law firm in Istanbul and Frankfurt for 7 years.

Balcıoğlu holds a master of laws degree from Sheffield University, UK, and has been a member of the Istanbul Bar Association since 2001. A widely-recognized lawyer in Turkey, Barlas Balcıoğlu is ranked and recommended in Chambers Global and The Legal 500.

Close

Yuriy Sydorov

Ambassador of ICC Ukraine in the Persian Gulf States

Sydorov is Ambassador of ICC Ukraine in the Persian Gulf States and Economic Counselor to the President of ICC Ukraine. Based in the United Arab Emirates, he provides consulting services to Ukrainian companies seeking to enter the Middle Eastern markets.

Sydorov is also the CEO of Yudex Group, a trading and advertising firm. Previously, he served in management and sales positions at international and Ukrainian companies, including Delta Group, 3M and Ukrprommash.

Sydorov holds an MBA degree from the Edinburgh Business School and is a graduate of Kyiv National Economic University. In 2015, Yuriy was awarded the Golden Scythian Pectoral by the Ukrainian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce for his contribution to the promotion of Ukrainian entrepreneurship and business abroad.

Close

Brian Bonner

Chief Editor, Kyiv Post

Brian Bonner has served as the chief editor of the Kyiv Post since 2008. He also held the job in 1999, three years after first arriving in Ukraine to teach journalism.

Bonner is a veteran American journalist who spent most of his professional life with the St. Paul Pioneer Press in Minnesota, where he covered international, national and local news during a nearly 24-year career in which he was a staff writer and an assigning editor. For American newspapers, he has reported from abroad in Russia, Ukraine, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Laos. Bonner left the St. Paul newspaper in 2007 to become the associate director of international communications at the Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids in Washington, D. C.

He also worked as a member of the core teams with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe during six election observation missions in Ukraine, Belarus, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.

Close

Lenna Koszarny

Founding Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Horizon Capital

Lenna Koszarny was appointed Horizon Capital chief executive officer in December 2014, formerly serving as a founding partner and chief financial officer from 2006, and an officer of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) since 2003. Currently Horizon Capital manages three funds focused on Ukraine and nearby markets - the Emerging Europe Growth Fund II (EEGF ІІ), the Emerging Europe Growth Fund (EEGF) and WNISEF, with over $600 million under management. Koszarny leads Horizon Capital, is a member of the Investment Committee of EEGF and EEGF II, and serves on the board of several of Horizon Capital’s portfolio companies.

Prior to co-founding Horizon Capital and joining WNISEF, Koszarny co-founded a leading consulting firm in Ukraine, EBS, in 1998. She is a board member and vice president of the Ukrainian World Congress, representing over 20 million Ukrainians worldwide, the chair of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Advisory Council in Ukraine, and the vice-chair of the Advisory Council of Kyiv-Mohyla Business School.

Originally from Canada, Koszarny has lived and worked in Ukraine for nearly 22 years. She is a Canadian certified public accountant and received her MBA at the Ivey School of Business in Canada.

Close

Elena Voloshina

Head of Representative Office, International Finance Corporation

Elena Voloshina is the head of operations in Ukraine of the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group. The IFC fosters sustainable economic growth in developing countries by supporting private sector development, mobilizing private capital, and providing advisory and risk mitigation services to businesses and governments.

Voloshina works on investment promotion as well as working on certain investment projects. She is also actively involved in the work of advisory donor-funded programs that IFC is implementing across Ukraine.

Prior to her appointment in December 1996, Voloshina was deputy project manager and then project manager for the IFC’s Small-Scale Privatization Project (1994-1996) supervising the work of consultants on small-scale privatization in 18 cities of Ukraine and coordinating IFC relations with the Ukrainian government at all levels.

Voloshina began her career with the IFC in 1992 when it first launched its operation in Ukraine. During her tenure at IFC, she has held various positions that have enabled her to acquire extensive experience in consulting on a wide range of privatization and investment related issues.

Born in Kyiv, Voloshina graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in 1985 and upon the completion of the university’s two-year postgraduate course in 1990 was conferred a PhD degree in Linguistics.

Close

Jan Tombiński

Ambassador, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine

Ambassador Jan Tombiński is the head of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine. Before arriving to Ukraine in 2012, Tombiński served as Permanent Representative of the Republic of Poland to the European Union.

Tombiński’s diplomatic career started in 1990, when he was appointed as a second secretary at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in the Czech Republic, where he later served as first secretary, counsellor and counsellor-Minister Plenipotentiary. From 1995 to 1996, Tombiński worked as Counsellor-Minister Plenipotentiary in the Embassy of Poland in Slovenia. From 1996 to 1998, he served as Ambassador of Poland in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In 1998, Tombiński joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to become a Counsellor to the Minister in the Departments of Western Europe, Central Europe and Southern Europe, and later - as Director of the Departments of Central Europe and Southern Europe, and the Director of the European Policy Department. From 2001 to 2007, Tombiński served as Ambassador of Poland in France.

Ambassador Tombiński holds a master's degree in history from the Jagiellonian University, Poland, and a bachelor’s degree in german philology from the same institution. He is married and has ten children.

Close

Yönet C. Tezel

Ambassador of Turkey to Ukraine

Ambassador Yönet Tezel joined the Turkish Foreign Service in 1989. Prior to his recent assignment to Kyiv, Tezel served as Deputy Director-General for Research at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His earlier assignments in the headquarters include the Policy Planning Directorate and the Offices of the President and the Minister.

Over this career, Tezel has served at the Turkish Delegation to the OSCE in Vienna (1992-1995), Turkish Consulate General in Jerusalem (1995-1997), the Turkish Embassy in London (1999-2003), and Turkish Embassy in Ottawa (2005-2010).

Ambassador Tezel holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Boğazici University, Istanbul, and a master’s degree in International Relations from Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara. During his time in London and Ottawa he also carried out academic studies.

Tezel arrived in Ukraine on Feb. 1, 2014. He is married and has three children.

Close

Tatiana Korotka

Deputy Business Ombudsman

Tatiana Korotka is a seasoned professional in finance and economic development with more than 17 years of experience in the public and private sectors. Her expertise includes business planning, private sector development, infrastructure, energy and regulatory reform implementation in various sectors.

Prior to joining the Business Ombudsman’s team, Korotka worked as the Director of Professional Services at USAID’s Public Private Partnership Development Program. She coordinated transaction support activities for PPP pilot projects in various sectors, such as transport, heating, health care, recreation, and management of public infrastructure. She also drew up a number of legal acts that were not only approved by the Ukrainian government, but that were also praised by international investors.

Korotka obtained her extensive experience in executive management while she was one of the top managers at the insurance companies PZU (Poland) and ING Life (The Netherlands), and as a consultant at the World Bank and other international donor organizations.

Korotka also has about 10 years of experience working in the public sector. She served as Chief Financial Officer at the State Nuclear Regulatory Committee of Ukraine and Head of the Department of Financial Services Markets Development and European Integration at the State Commission for Regulation of Financial Services Markets of Ukraine. Korotka was responsible bringing Ukrainian legislation into line with EU legislation, and was part of Ukraine’s official negotiating teams in talks with the WTO, the World Bank, the IMF, and the European Union.

Korotka holds a Master of Business Administration from the Institute of International Business Relations at Steinbeis University (Germany), a PhD in economics, and a master’s degree from Kyiv State Economic University.

Close

Francis Malige

Managing Director, Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Francis Malige is the Managing Director for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus for the EBRD. He is responsible for delivering the bank’s strategy in Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. This includes carrying out investment operations and policy dialogue to support the implementation of reforms.

A French national, Malige joined the EBRD in February 2010 as a Director in the Financial Institutions team, where he developed the bank’s business in the western Balkans, Eastern Europe, Turkey and lately in the southern and eastern Mediterranean.

Before joining the EBRD, Malige was Managing Director for Corporate Development at BNP Paribas, focusing on bank acquisitions. His earlier career was in accounting and consulting, at Arthur Andersen and McKinsey & Company, where he served clients in industry, high tech and construction, as well as in the financial services sector.

Malige is a graduate of ESCP Europe, a French business school. In addition to his native French, he is fluent in German, Italian and English.

Close

Tarkan Kadooğlu

President,Turkonfed

Tarkan Kadooğlu is the president of Turkonfed, the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation. Born in Cizre, Turkey, he started his career in 1991 at the Kadooğlu Group of Companies. While working at Kadooğlu, Tarkan obtained an MBA degree from Newport International University in the United States. In 1996, at the age of 22, he became head of the Kadooğlu Group of Companies.

Kadooğlu, aside from his commercial success, has also had effective roles in non-governmental organizations. He served as a director of the DOGUNSİFED business association for two years, and in 2007 he became a board member of the Turkish Industry and Business Association, TUSİAD. Kadooğlu also continues to serve as a board member of International Diplomats Organization, Turkey.

Kadooğlu is married and has four children.

Close

Andrey Serdyuk

Head of Sales for Asia Pacific and Middle East, Centravis

Andrey Serdyuk is the head of sales for Asia Pacific and Middle East at Centravis, a leading global supplier of high-quality solutions in seamless stainless steel tubes and pipes. Serdyuk joined Centravis in 2006, taking the position of head of the company’s business development department. From 2010 to 2013, Serdyuk worked as head of sales for the international markets at industrial division of Energy Standard Group.

Serdyuk is a sales and business development professional in the B2B area, who has a strong focus on sales execution and development in such industries as oil and gas, electricity, petrochemicals and metallurgy on the international markets. He has extensive experience and a strong background in sales execution and business development at regional markets such as Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and North America, including experience of creating and managing distribution channels,, cooperating with key accounts, managing product portfolios and launching new products.

Serdyuk graduated with an Executive MBA Diploma in business strategy from the Sheffield School of Management in the United Kingdom, and a Level-7 diploma in strategic management and Leadership from the Chartered Management Institute in the United Kingdom, with a focus on international business strategy, strategic and change management, leadership, and advanced negotiations.

Close

Jaroslawa Johnson

President and Chief Executive Officer, Western NIS Enterprise Fund

Jaroslawa Z. Johnson was appointed WNISEF President and CEO from January 1, 2015. Johnson will direct, oversee and provide overall management for the WNISEF’s program activities and will remain a member of the fund’s Board of Directors in addition to her role as president and CEO.

Johnson was born in Ukraine and emigrated to the United States as a child. She is a graduate of Goucher College and the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she was editor of the law review and earned a J.D. in 1977. After law school, she served as law clerk to Chief Judge Thomas E. Fairchild, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and practiced corporate law with several Chicago law firms.

She is a founding member and former chairperson of the America Ukraine Business Council, which sponsored the first U.S. visit by a Ukrainian president in 1991, and she organized the first Ukraine-U.S. Trade Conference for U.S. companies in 1992. She was appointed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton to the Board of Directors of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund in 1994, serving as an active member of the board since its inception.

Prior to her appointment as president and CEO of WNISEF, Johnson was managing partner of an international law office in Kyiv, Ukraine, which she launched in the early 1990s. Johnson’s extensive international legal practice includes counseling corporations in many countries on mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, financing transactions, project finance and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act compliance in the U.S. and Central and Eastern Europe. Over the course of more than two decades of international corporate legal work, Johnson has advised many Fortune 500 companies and other Western multinationals on cross-border transactions with Ukraine. Johnson is recognized by international legal directories as a leading lawyer in Ukraine’s corporate, banking and finance and energy sectors.

Close

Nataliya Mykolska

Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Trade Representative of Ukraine

Nataliya Mykolska has extensive experience gained from over 14 years working as a legal counsel on all aspects of international trade, including WTO and free trade agreements, trade financing, cross-border trade transactions and contracts, distribution, franchising, and other areas.

In addition to catering to clients’ needs throughout her legal practice within Ukraine’s top law firms, Mykolska also worked with government institutions to assist in bringing Ukrainian legislation into line with the country’s international obligations, including the development of the EU-Ukraine DCFTA provisions on market access for goods, SPS measures, customs facilitation and dispute settlement. Her professional experience also includes also advising on the potential impact on clients’ businesses of “new” free trade agreements, developing business positions, and representing clients’ interests in relations with governments, etc. For a number of years, Mykolska advised the World Bank and International Finance Corporation on customs law and regulatory issues, taking part in the Doing Business project.

Mykolska obtained her education at the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg in Germany, and the Ivan Franko Lviv National University Law School in Ukraine, and is a member of Ukrainian and International Bar Associations. Mykolska was named the No. 1 International Trade lawyer according to Ukrainian Law Firms in 2014, and was recommended by the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers 2014 and the International Who's Who of Trade & Customs Lawyers 2014.

For the past two years, prior to her appointment to the government, Mykolska headed the International Trade Practice Group at one of Ukraine’s top law firms.

As Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade – Trade Representative of Ukraine, Mykolska focuses on export promotion, multilateral and bilateral preferential agreements, developing consistent and predictable trade policy, and safeguarding the interests of Ukraine in the WTO.

Mykolska is a published author of over 75 articles and commentaries in Ukraine and abroad.

Close

Yuriy Kosyuk

Chief Executive Officer, Mironivsky Hliboproduct

Yuriy Kosyuk is the chief executive officer of poultry producer Myronivsky Hliboproduct. He is also a controlling shareholder in the company.

From July to December 2014, Kosyuk, appointed by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroschenko, served as a first deputy head of the Presidential Administration.

In 1995, Kosyuk founded the Business Centre for the Food Industry (BCFI), which was transformed into Myronivsky Hliboproduct in 1998. In 2002 the company established the first Ukrainian brand of refrigerated fresh chicken - Nasha Ryaba. Commencing as a green field project, MHP is now the leading agribusiness company in Ukraine, with around 60% market share of industrially produced chicken. The company’s brand Nasha Ryaba has one of the highest levels of consumer recognition of all food brands in Ukraine. In 2002, MHP was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and at this time Kosyuk was bestowed the rank of “Hero of Ukraine” by the then-president of Ukraine, Victor Yushchenko, for his significant development of the agricultural and food industry sectors of Ukraine.

Prior to founding the BCFI, Kosyuk established the company LKB, which exported metal, grains and gas from Turkmenistan.

Kosyuk graduated as a processing engineer in meat and milk production from the Kyiv Food Industry Institute in 1992. He is married and has a son.

Close

Vladyslava Rutytska

Deputy Minister on European Integration, Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine

Vladyslava Rutytska graduated with honors from the Faculty of Cybernetics at Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, Kyiv, Ukraine, earning a degree in technical sciences. She is a recognized expert in the field of corporate governance, strategy development, project management, and personnel management, with 15 years of experience in senior management positions.

Rutytska was a board member of Palmira-Ruta (wholesale and retail trade) and the Kiev Investment Group (a Ukrainian financial and industrial holding company) where she was operating at the strategic level. In 2009, Rutytska joined the senior management team at one of the largest agricultural holdings in Ukraine and Europe. Her responsibilities included strategic development, the implementation of systems to improve the efficiency of business areas, and operations management.

In addition to gaining a higher education and scientific degree, Rutytska also interned at the Kaizen Institute in Japan; attended the "Responsible Leadership" course run by Aspen Ukraine; gained an MBA at the Edinburgh Business School; gained an Agro MBA in Ukraine (the MBA program, designed by KSE and LvBS, has an emphasis to the realities of agribusiness) and has participated in numerous conferences and summits on business development themes (including the Adam Smith Conferences). Rutytska is also a senator of the Economic Senate of the European Parliament.

Rutytska was appointed Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine on European Integration by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in mid-September 2014. She is responsible for issues related to foreign economic activities within the ministry, bringing Ukrainian regulations into line with EU ones, and liaison with NGOs and associations. She is also mandated to represent the ministry at parliamentary committee meetings - especially in matters related to bringing Ukrainian agricultural legislation into line with EU standards.

She is married, and has two children.

Close

John Woodham

Head of Trading and Deputy Commercial Director, DTEK Energy

John Woodham is the head of trading and deputy commercial director of DTEK Energy. He is responsible for DTEK Energy’s front office (trading). These activities include domestic trade and importing of natural gas and liquid gas, domestic trading and importing/exporting of steam coal and anthracite, domestic trading and exporting of electricity, and freight trading.

Woodham’s career has been focused on commodity trading and risk management. Prior to joining DTEK, he worked for 13 years at AES Corporation, with the United States, Europe, and Kazakhstan being his main areas of expertise. At AES Corporation, he held a range of positions - from director to director general. From 1997 to 2000, Woodham worked as a derivative trader at Texaco, in the United States.

Woodham holds a degree in business administration from the Texas Christian University, United States.

Close

Volodymyr Omelyan

Deputy Minister - Chief of Staff, Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine

Volodymyr Omelyan is a deputy minister and the chief of staff at the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine. Prior to joining the ministry, Omelyan headed the Service of the Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. From 2012 to 2014, he served as a deputy director of the maintenance of activity of the minister (Patronage Service) of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine. From 2008 to 2009, Omelyan worked as a head of the organization of the minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine.

Omelyan has extensive experience in the diplomatic sphere. He started his career in diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry in 2000 as a specialist of the second category and attache of the ministry’s Department of NATO and European Security of Euro-Atlantic Integration. Up to 2006 he also worked as a second secretary of the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the International Organizations in Vienna. In 2007-2008, Omelyan held the position of the first secretary of the Analytical Department of the Department of the Secretariat of the Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. From 2010 to 2012, he headed the Department of the Russian Federation of the First Territorial Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Omelyan graduated from Ivan Franko National University of Lviv in 2000, and in 2001 – from Lviv Polytechnic National University, Ukraine.

Close