Vienna Speakers - 18th February 2014
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Courtney Fingar Editor fDi Magazine, Financial Times Group Courtney Fingar is the Editor-in-Chief of fDi Magazine, a specialist publication from the Financial Times, and the head of content for its associated data division, fDi Intelligence. In her role she oversees all elements of editorial production for the bimonthly magazine and its website, as well as editorial outputs for fDi Intelligence. She interviews political and business leaders at the highest levels about economic and investment issues, and has covered business stories in all major regions of the world. She has a special interest in post-conflict investment sparked by her on-the- ground reporting from Iraq in 2009-11. She is a popular panellist and moderator at international economic gatherings and has appeared on television and radio in dozens of countries as a commentator on international investment. Before joining fDi in 2004, she was Editor of Trade & Forfaiting Review, a trade finance magazine in London. She worked previously in Washington, DC. |
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Nikola Gruevski Prime Minister, Republic of Macedonia Nikola Gruevski was sworn in as the 7th Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia in August 2006. He is also Vice President of the Euro-Atlantic Council of the Republic of Macedonia, a position he has held since 2005. He has been leader of the ruling right-wing VMRO-DPMNE party since 2003. Previous positions include President of the State Securities and Exchange Commission (2000-02), Minister of Finance (1999-2002), Minister Without Portfolio and Minister of Trade (1998-99), and a President and Founder of the Broker's Association of the Republic of Macedonia. He has an MSc in Economics International Capital Market Qualification from the Securities Institute, London; and a degree in Economics from St. Clement Ohridski University, Bitola. from Ss Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje; International Capital Market Qualification from the Securities Institute, London; and a degree in Economics from St. Clement Ohridski University, Bitola. |
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Vladimir Pesevski Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Republic of Macedonia Vladimir Pesevski has been Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs since 2009. He coordinates the Government’s economic departments and institutions, 1 and focuses on big infrastructure projects, attracting foreign and local investors, improving the business climate and accelerating economic development. From 2005 to 2009 he was General Manager of the SEAF South Balkan Fund and a partner in the International Investment Fund for direct investments which focuses on the Balkans and has branch offices in the Netherlands, Serbia and Macedonia. He has acted as an investment consultant in the sale of several Serbian and Kosovon companies to foreign investors with a total market value of €100 million. From 2004-2007 Mr Pesevski was a lecturer in strategic management at Sheffield University, England, at the university’s International Faculty–City College, in Thessaloniki, Greece. From 2003-2006 he was a Member of the First Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Macedonia, and a Member of the National Council for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness. Previous roles have included short-term adviser to President Boris Trajkovski in 2001; management consultant for strategic management and finances in the Macedonian Business Center, USAID; and assistant in the Center for Research in New Technologies, Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Mr Pesevski has an MBA from the University of Sheffield and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. |
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Sava Ivanov Dalbokov Member of Managing Board Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG Sava Dalbokov is a Member of the Managing Board at Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen AG in Graz, Austria, with strategic responsibility for developing the bank’s operations in the Western Balkans. The bank owns 99% of Sparkasse Bank Makedonija, which offers a full range of services for individuals and businesses through 29 branches. Steiermärkische Bank und Sparkassen is itself part-owned by Erste Group Bank of Austria, one of the largest banking groups in central and eastern Europe. Before joining Steiermärkische Bank, Mr Dalbokov led the launch of Erste Group’s social banking initiative from 2008-2010. He was Chief Executive Officer of Erste Bank Serbia from 2006-2008, repositioning and transforming the bank following its acquisition by Erste Group; and prior to that, from 2002-2006, he was a Member of the Management Board at Erste Bank Croatia. Mr Dalbokov has been with the Erste and Sparkassen Group since 1997 and has played an important role in the Group’s successful expansion of its operations in Central and Eastern Europe. A Bulgarian national, he holds business and economic degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and the University of South Carolina, Columbia in the USA. |
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Günther Ottendorfer Group Chief Technical Officer Telekom Austria |
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Vele Samak Minister for Foreign Investments Republic of Macedonia Vele Samak is the most senior Macedonian Government official driving and executing a broad range of policies to secure business and investment opportunities in Macedonia for some of the largest companies in the world. He has managed more than 100 investment projects and hosted more than 60 business teams in Macedonia from the largest foreign companies, where he assisted in strategic analysis and due diligence, successfully placing Macedonia on a short-list of site selection countries. Previously, Mr Samak was a product manager at Microsoft overseeing enterprise marketing of SQL Server 2005 and Business Intelligence solutions for the US market. He helped drive partner and competitive marketing campaigns which contributed to over $1bn in revenue and won two Marketing Impact awards. In 2004 while at The Wharton School, he and a group of students started TerraPass, one of the most successful firms in its sector today. Before Wharton, Mr Samak was a Vice President in Global Quantitative Research – a highly ranked world-wide research team at Citigroup – where he developed quantitative products to help investors implement investment strategies. His work on macroeconomic risk analysis is widely used by global investors and his research on optimal allocation of pension funds is published in the Financial Analysts Journal. He Samak holds a Bachelor’s degree from The University of Chicago (1996) and a Masters in Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania (2005). |
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Stefan Szyszkowitz Chief Financial Officer, Member of the Management Board EVN Stefan Szyszkowitz is the Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Management Board of EVN, the Austrian electricity, natural gas and water company. He has executive responsibility for the supply business unit and the South East Europe business units, as well as for a number of group functions including controlling, customer relations, finance, group accounting (including investor relations), general administration and corporate affairs, corporate communications accounts department, human resources and buildings. He was head of the South East Europe business division from 2005-2010. Mr Szyszkowitz joined EVN in 1993, after working at the Federation of Austrian Industries. He has a degree in law. |
