Forum Agenda (3 June)

Pavel has a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Concordia University and is a certified professional engineer with the Quebec Order of Engineers.

Pavel has 21 years of experience and has been with Howden since 2000. In the past ten years, he has been at the forefront of the development of the Ventsim CONTROL software tool for mining applications as well as the SmartEXEC HVAC software tool for industrial applications. Recently Pavel has been actively involved in ventilation and pumping simulation consulting for underground mines.

Rama Ayman is CEO of MMG Capital with over 25 years of metals and mining corporate finance experience. Following a 10-year career as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank (ex-Bankers Trust) in New York and Director of Corporate Finance at BNP Paribas in London, Mr. Ayman joined Arcelor in Luxembourg in 2002 as Corporate VP of M&A until Nov 2006, and subsequently joined Hatch Corporate Finance as Managing Director until 2012; most recently Mr. Ayman was Partner and Global Head of Metals and Mining Corporate Finance at KPMG in London prior to joining MMG Capital. Rama Ayman has led numerous M&A and Capital Raising engagements, in the metals and mining sector, throughout Europe, Americas, CIS, MENA, Africa, Japan, China and India. He has played a major role in landmark M&A transactions including the €34bn Arcelor Mittal merger which created the world’s largest steel company and the $13bn Tata Corus merger, and has led over 40 M&A, equity finance and debt finance deals in the steel sector, raw materials for steel, precious metals, base metals, and industrial metals worldwide.

Chris Bray BEng, MAusIMM(CP) has 23 years’ international experience, managing and contributing to a wide range of multidisciplinary technical mine studies, due diligence, operational support and international reporting projects. He has a strong operational background in underground and open pit mines and seeks to determine optimal and practical solutions for Clients based on their goals. In recent feasibility studies, Chris has worked with multidisciplinary teams to assess and understand the potential for battery-electric equipment on underground mining projects.

Tim Buisseret is the Bulgaria Country Director for the Department for International Trade, based at the British Embassy in Sofia. He has lived and worked in Bulgaria for twenty years, primarily in the telecoms sector, including several years as General Manager of Mobikom, the first mobile phone company. He understands well the opportunities and challenges of doing business in Bulgaria.

Jeffrey M. Christian is Managing Partner at CPM Group, a precious metals and commodities research and consulting company he founded in 1986 in a buyout of the Goldman Sachs Commodities Research Group he managed at that time. He has a commanding understanding of the mechanics of precious metals and commodities trading and investing, as well as derivatives markets, commodities in general, and broad economic and financial trends. CPM advises major producers, users, governments, central banks, and institutional investors on how best to manage their financial exposure to precious metals and commodities. He advises on overall market trends, as well as on hedging, materials management, and investing strategies. In 2006 he published Commodities Rising, a book on commodities markets. In 1980 he published a book on electric vehicles. More can be learned about Mr. Christian and CPM Group at www.cpmgroup.com.

Mr Cronin is a co-founder and Managing Director & CEO of Adriatic Metals and is Executive Director of ASX listed Black Dragon Gold Corp, in addition to being a Director of TSX listed Global Atomic Corporation.

Mr Cronin has over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, investment banking, funds management, and commodity trading, with a strong European mining focus.

Previously, he was Vice President of RMB Resources, the highly successful resource investment arm of First Rand Bank and has a B.Com and MBA from the Queensland University of Technology.

Kati Csaba (BA [Political Studies and Russian] Queen’s University, 1988; MA [Central/East European and Russian-Area Studies] Carleton University, 1993) began her career at External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1993, working on Canada’s assistance program to Hungary.

In the following years, Kati occupied several programming and analytical roles covering Central and Eastern Europe, including four Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) postings in the region: as second secretary in Kyiv (1995 to 1997), as head of aid in Sarajevo (1997 to 1999), as head of aid in Moscow (2005 to 2009) and as development director in Kyiv (2009 to 2012). In 2013, she was a member of the transition team responsible for the amalgamation of the then Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada and the then CIDA, following which she served as the director of amalgamation implementation in Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada’s Sub-Saharan Africa Branch (2014 to 2015).

Most recently, she was the senior director responsible for Canada’s development program with Ethiopia, based at the Embassy of Canada in Addis Ababa.

Kati is Ambassador to Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Ms. Csaba is married and has two teenage children.

Graham Dallas covers the EMEA region for Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange, where he’s responsible for both listings and investor business development.

Graham has extensive experience in the debt and equity capital markets of Europe and North America with a particular emphasis on both the challenges and opportunities presented by cross-border listing. He joined TSX in 2013 and has previously worked for both the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

A seasoned investor with over 30 years’ experience in investment banking and fund management, directing open-ended funds and private equity investments in natural resources.

In January 2004, founded Sector Investment Managers Ltd, a U.K., FCA-authorized and regulated investment advisory company. Among other strategies, he manages the Junior Gold Fund. This fund invests in smaller gold and silver mining companies in safe political territories. Most of the portfolio companies have growing production, sustainable operating structures and active exploration programmes that could add materially to reserves.

Born in Athens, Greece in 1963. Graduated in 1985 from the University of Glasgow with a BSc in Mechanical Engineering. In 1990 obtained a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Sheffield.

Ms. Dechev has diverse experience in the minerals sector which is uniquely positioned to bring value to Mundoro Capital. She brings both a technical understanding of the key issues in our sector through a solid foundation of a Geological and Mineral Engineering Degree as well as the practical understanding of the challenges facing exploration and development companies through extensive capital markets experience and hands on management experience.

Ms. Dechev has an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University in Canada, a Bachelor of Applied Science and Engineering in Geological & Mineral Engineering from the University of Toronto and is a licensed Professional Engineer in both British Columbia and Ontario, Canada.

Jurgen is a Dutch mining engineer who has 10 years of practical experience gained at underground gold and nickel operations in Australia and an open-pit gold mine in Guinea, followed by more than 13 years as a consultant at SRK. He is the holder of an MBA and an Australian First Class Mine Manager’s ticket.

He is an experienced user of Surpac, Datamine, and MineSched for the creation of underground designs, 2D and 3D visualizations, and mine scheduling. He has a good understanding of the interrelatedness of the various technical disciplines for setting up and improving mines and underground storage facilities. His practical experience ranges from mine development, ventilation, drill and blast, and ground support design and scheduling to mine management.

During his time at SRK, he has worked on a multitude of technical and due diligence studies in a large variety of commodities as well as underground storage facilities for both nuclear and non-nuclear waste.

Florian Grummes is an independent financial analyst, advisor, consultant, trader & investor as well as an international speaker with more than 25 years of experience in financial markets.

Midas Touch Consulting is publishing weekly gold, silver & cryptocurrency analysis for his numerous international readers. He is also running a large telegram channel incl. outstanding realtime crypto signals.

Florian is well known for combining technical, fundamental and sentiment analysis into one often accurate conclusion about the markets.

www.midastouch-consulting.com

Ben Jones is a Managing Consultant at CRU Group, an internationally leading consultancy specialising in mining, metals and fertiliser industries Ben has lead numerous analyses into macroeconomic, strategic and public policy issues affecting the commodities markets and the financial performance of key industry players. Prior to joining CRU, Ben was an economist at BG Group responsible for energy market analysis and upstream investment decisions. He has previously worked at the International Monetary Fund and UK Treasury on macroeconomic, fiscal and commodities related (as well as more general macroeconomic and fiscal) policy and research. Ben has an MPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Economics from the University of Birmingham. He has published widely on economic, policy and commodity related topics in leading international journals.

Ros Lund is a mining Specialist within the Department of International Trade helping UK companies connect with export opportunities in Central Asia, Central Europe, and the Balkans.

Ros has directed more than 50 mining conferences, seminars, and events for the World Initiative of Mining Lawyers, Objective Capital, SNL, Women in Mining and the Association of Mining Analysts in the UK and overseas. She created Mining on Top, a conference focused on mining’s role in development in Africa, which attracted 500 delegates and 13 African Ministers in its second year.

Prior to mining, Ros spent 14 years in Payments, working for American Express and Barclaycard in a variety of operational and commercial roles.

During her career, Ros has completed secondments to Germany, Sweden and Ghana.

Ros is a qualified Six Sigma Black Belt and Corporate and Career Coach. She holds a BA Social Ethics from Lancaster University.

Richlove Mensah is Department for International Trade’s Regional Director for Trade and Investment in Central and Eastern Europe. Based in Warsaw, he provides leadership and strategic direction to ten teams across the region: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Prior to joining DIT he worked as an Economic Adviser at the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) where he had the responsibility for setting the strategic direction of the department’s analytical work on international trade and investment.

Prior to this, he worked at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) as Head of Global Economy and G7 Foreign Affair sous Sherpa, where he was directly involved in international G7 negotiations.
Before joining FCO, he worked as the Head of DfT’s Better Regulation Unit, where he had the overall responsibility for the quality of the Department’s Regulatory Impact Assessments.
He has also held two positions at the UK’s Business Department, including as Trade Economist. He represented the UK in this capacity at the WTO, OECD and the EU.
He studied Economics and Politics (BA) at Manchester University and International Economics (MSc) at Lunds Universitet in Sweden.

With a background in geology, Dr. Ana Mladenovic has more than 30 years of experience in the field of materials characterization, i.e. aggregates, natural stone, cementitious composites and especially waste recycling. One of her key activities is the study of the characteristics of different types of waste, in particular industrial and mining waste, and of possibilities for the recycling of such waste in applications related to the construction industry. Her professional interest is also building pathology, with special emphasis on deterioration processes in concrete such as sulphate reaction and alkali-aggregate reaction.

Ayuna Nechaeva runs London Stock Exchange’s Primary Markets deal origination team across all of Europe, including Ireland, Russia, and the CIS.

In the course of over 10 years at LSEG, Ayuna has worked on dozens of high-profile IPOs and listings across all sectors. Ayuna’s team also manages CRM relations with over 200 listed issuers from Europe and the CIS, whose combined market cap nears $1 trillion.

Ayuna was featured in Management Today’s 35 under 35 Women in Management in 2017. In 2018, she was shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Award in Business Category.

Ayuna holds a Master’s in International Business from Grenoble Graduate School of Business and MA in Linguistics & Intercultural Communications from the Moscow State University.

ARTEL.PRO / GESCHÄFTSFÜHRER
September 2019 bis dato
Vertriebsexperte und Unternehmensberater mit Fokus Russland

HEAD OF SALES EUROPE
CONTITECH TRANSPORTBANDSYSTEME GMBH
Oktober 2017 bis August 2019

EXPAT IN RUSSLAND
CONTINENTAL AG
März 2014 bis September 2017
Merger and Acquisition Prozess und Aufbau eines Projekt - und Engineering - Office

VERTRIEBSLEITER MINING EAST EUROPE
CONTITECH TRANSPORTBANDSYSTEME GMBH
November 2012 bis Februar 2014

REGIONAL SALES MANAGER
EMG AUTOMATION GMBH
Juli 1994 bis Oktober 2012

Ausbildung:

DIPLOMINGENIEUR FÃœR ELEKTRISCHE ANTRIEBSTECHNIK
Kiewer Polytechnisches Institut / Sowjetunion - jetzt Ukraine
1986

FACHARBEITER ELEKTROMASCHINENBAUER
VEM Elektromotorenwerk Oschersleben / Deutschland
1980

Richard is a Corporate Consultant (Due Diligence) with over 27 years’ international experience in mining project evaluation and due diligence. Richard is an experienced manager and team leader and whilst at SRK, he has managed several large, multi-disciplinary due diligence reviews of a range of projects, both underground and open pit, development and operational stage; and for a variety of commodities, including gold, copper, zinc, coal, oil shale. Richard is currently the SRK UK Managing Director.

Dr. Milan Parivodic is principal lawyer in PARIVODIC ADVOKATI and general counsel to the Geological and Mining Association of Serbia (GRAS). Having top UK and Serbian legal training Milan is the trusted advisor to international companies in their legal and government relations needs in Serbia. His team of eminent lawyers work on complex investment projects, often in highly regulated industries and take full care that the investment moves forward efficiently and lawfully - as planned. His approach to solving problems is always very practical, hands on, ethical and legal.

He served as Serbian government minister of international economic relations and minister of finance (2004-2007) but he is not politically active nor working in any capacity for the state since 2008.

Milan’s highest expertise is in mining law, government relations, environmental law, foreign investment law, real estate and construction law, other regulated industries, all kinds of international business transactions and contracts and corporate matters and financial law.
He is well known for introducing breakthrough novelties into Serbian legislature. In the last 15 years participated in drafting Serbian commercial legislation: Foreign Investment Law (2015), Mining Law (2015), Foreign Trade Law (2005), Arbitration Law (2006), Mortgage Law (2006), Religious Communities Restitution Law (2006), Foreign Investment Law (2002), Concession Law (2003), Law on Efficient Protection of Intellectual Property (2006), draft Property Law (2006), draft Law on Restitution (2007).

Previous work

2007-2009 Partner in Austrian law firm Wolf Theiss,
2007-2008 Advisor to the Prime Minister of Serbia for economy and law
2006-2007 Minister of Finance of Serbia
2004-2007 Minister of International Economic Relations of Serbia
1991-2004 Lecturer in civil law at Belgrade Faculty of Laws

As a researcher at the Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and Geotechnologies (FBERG), Technical University in Košice, he has been involved in scientific research, education and industrial projects since 2013. The majority of them focus on the issue of raw materials and mining topics. He currently works as the head of the Project department at the FBERG and the Director of the EIT RawMaterials Regional Center Košice, where he focuses on the development of a regional innovation strategy in the conditions of the local ecosystem for the chosen East and South East countries.

Nigel is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and was formerly a Royal Naval Officer in the Fleet Air Arm. Upon leaving the Royal Navy, he qualified with KPMG where he stayed for a further three years before leaving to work in commerce. He worked for six years in management with British Airways before leaving in 2002. He joined CAML in 2007, became CFO of the Group in 2009 and has been instrumental in developing the business. In April 2018, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer.

Marcin Sadowski obtained a PhD in physics from the University of Warsaw in 1994 and later worked on investigating the optical properties of semiconducting structures and materials at the University of Warsaw, the University of Montpellier, and the High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Grenoble. In 2007 he moved to the European Commission in Brussels. For several years, he was a Research Programme Officer at the Directorate General for Research of the European Commission, responsible for research on advanced materials. Since 2014, he is the Head of the Raw Materials sector at the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (EASME) of the European Commission, responsible for the research and innovation projects of Horizon 2020 concerned with Raw Materials.

After graduating from Oxford Sir Richard Shirreff served in the British Army for 37 years, commanding soldiers on operations and in combat at every level, rising to the highest rank before retiring from the Army as NATO’s Deputy Supreme Commander Europe. Richard has extensive experience of building the unity of effort with different nations, governments, the humanitarian and developmental community together with a wide variety of other stakeholders in order to resolve complex problems.

Richard has a first-hand understanding of the challenges of decision making under extreme pressure and a proven record of leading dynamic change management to support corporate leaders in the design and execution of strategy to manage complex risks. 

Introduction:

Drawing on his 37-year career in the British Army, Richard identifies the need for resilience in crisis to underpin everything. As with everything this starts with selecting the right leader and that means someone who can inspire people to do willingly and well what needs to be done.

 

Dr. Stefan Stoev is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Austrian Mining Company MINEX, he is Investor in Sustainable Mining and Green-Tech Projects.

Stoev has a PhD Degree in Information Technology and Economics, a master's degree in International Finance and Economics, a bachelor's degree in International Economic Affairs, and a Professional Degree in Foreign Affairs and Linguistics.

He has supervised Europe's second-largest Copper-Gold Mining Project and is actively advising investments in the mining sector worldwide.

Huw has over 30 years of experience investing in emerging and frontier markets. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and then spent 16 years with CDC Group plc, mainly in Africa, before joining Actis, a private equity fund manager. Since 2008 he has worked for EBRD's equity team, investing mainly in the former Soviet Union and East, Central and Southern Europe.