Ambassador Igor Khalevinsky - Chairman

Born in Novosibirsk. Graduated from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) in 1967. In 1974 he was awarded a degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences from the Institute of Oriental Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

From 1967 till 2009 he was on the staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, USSR/Russia. 1967–69 and 1974–79 – the USSR Embassy in Pakistan. 1969–74; 1980–83 – in the MFA. USSR. 1983–88 – Senior Counsellor, the USSR Permanent Mission to the United Nations, New York, USA. Member, Advisory Committee on administrative and budgetary questions, UN. 1988–1991–Deputy Director, Director, Consular Affairs Department, USSR MFA.

In 1992 he was Deputy Minister of Labor and Employment of the Russian Federation. 1992–96 – Deputy Minister of Labor of Russia; 1996–97 – Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Development of Russia; 1997–98 – Ambassador-at-Large and Deputy Inspector General in the Russian MFA; 1998–2003 – Head of the UN Office in Belgrade, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/Serbia and Montenegro; 2003–2009 – Ambassador-at-Large in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, including in 2004–2006 – Plenipotentiary Representative of Russia to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), in 2005–06 – Chairman of the Permanent Council at the CSTO as well as in 2006–2008 – Member, Advisory Committee on administrative and budgetary questions, UN. Since June 2009-Director, Department of Management, in the Secretariat of the Customs Union Commission.

Igor has written a number of publications on the issues of international relations, world economy and social policy.

Since 1994 he has been Vice- President of the International Information Academy. Since 2002 he has been member of the Management Board of Serbian Society for Fight against Cancer. 

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Ambassador Ralph Johnson

Ambassador (ret.) Ralph R. Johnson, President of the International Practice Group of Quinn Gillespie & Associates, has deep and long experience working with key policymakers in the foreign affairs arena, including at the Department of State, the National Security Council and in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. Prior to his role at QGA, Ralph was the Principal Deputy High Representative in the Office of the High Representative in Sarajevo from August 1999 until July 2001.

He assumed his responsibilities in Sarajevo following three years (1996-1999) as Ambassador of the United States of America to Slovakia. Following his retirement from the Foreign Service in 1999, Ralph established a consulting firm that provided political risk assessment and political advisory services to U.S. and other investors in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. From 1993 until 1995, Ralph was the Coordinator for U.S. assistance to Central and Eastern Europe where he was responsible for the oversight and coordination of all U.S. assistance to the region.

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Professor Miroslav J. Vesković

Coordinator of scientific support to macro-regional strategies, European Commission - Joint Research Centre, Miroslav was former Rector of the University of Novi Sad. 

Miroslav is a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He ranks among top Serbian scientists, foremost in nuclear physics and is the leader of the NICOLE Group of scientists cooperating within the ISOLDE project of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). He has been working as a distinguished researcher with ISOLDE, CERN since 1989.  A PhD in sciences, he was appointed Rector of the University of Novi Sad (UNS) in 2009.  

Miroslav was awarded The Danubius Award 2013 which honors persons with extraordinary scientific achievements pertaining to the Danube Region.  Founder of this award are the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF). He was presented the award by Austrian Federal Minister for Science and Research Karlheinz Tochterle and President of the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) Erhard Busek, on May 14, 2013 in Vienna. 

Before being appointed Rector, Miroslav was an Assistant Minister, Serbian Ministry of Science and Technological Development, Department for Radiation and Nuclear Safety (2008-2009), Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, UNS (2005-2008), UNS Vice-rector (2002-2004), Head of the UNS Institute of Physics, Faculty of Sciences, full-professor of Nuclear Physics, UNS, Head of UNS Nuclear Physics Laboratory… Miroslav worked abroad also as a Research Associate, Physics Department, University of Oxford,  Research Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA, and Research Fellow, Sussex University, Brighton,  and in Institute Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France. His focus is on rare nuclear processes, nuclear structure – nuclear magnetic moments, low temperature nuclear orientation, low background gamma spectroscopy, environmental protection, radioecology. He was the President of Serbian Physical Society), Head of International Committee of Serbian Physical Society, Member of European Physics Education Network and Deputy President of KONUS (Conference of the Universities of Serbia)

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Goran Svilanovic

Goran Svilanovic, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro, has just been appointed Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, in June 2012. Before this, he was the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities and the Chairman of the Working Table I of the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe and a member of the Serbian Parliament since 2004.

Active in politics for more than a decade, Mr. Svilanovic was a member of the Upper Chamber of the Federal Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro from 2000-2003, President of the Civic Alliance of Serbia from 1999-2004, and before that the party’s Vice President (1998) and Spokesperson (1997). From 1989-1998 he was a Teaching Assistant at the Law School, University of Belgrade.

Mr. Svilanovic also served on the International Commission on the Balkans, and in 2004 was the Laureate of the Sasakawa Foundation Prize for the Young Future Leaders of the World. Mr. Svilanovic has worked with a number of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Anti-War Action, the Belgrade Center for Human Rights, and the Center for Advancement of Legal Studies. He has published many articles and books on civil procedure and civil law, as well as on the legal status of refugees and issues relating to citizenship.

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Aleksandar Simić

Aleksandar Simic, composer and humanist, was born in Belgrade, in 1973. He spent most of his youth shifting between different cultures and continents, from London to Singapore, from St. Petersburg to New York. Half-way through med school he switched to study music and quickly established himself among leading composers of his generation. In his large and versatile opus that encompasses concert, spiritual, world and film music, a special place is reserved for compositions that were used to mark important jubilees such as 50 years of victory in WW II (for the Russian Federation), or 950 years of the East-West split (for the Vatican).

Although he wove his liberal political views and humanism into his music, Aleksandar has been a spokesperson and an activist for some of the most important charity campaigns such as Helping the Blind, the Safe House program or Notes from the Heart. His made a contribution to the global inter-religious dialogue over the many years and in many different countries: be it as a part of the mediating team between the Vatican and the State of Israel, or as a part of the Pave the Way Foundation from New York, to name a few. He was a part time lecturer at the Faculty of Political Sciences teaching Political Philosophy. He is presently assisting the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Special Prosecutors Office for War Crimes in the program called The Last Hope.

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Alex Machaskee

Alex Machaskee is the retired Publisher, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper. In that capacity, he was responsible for the overall policy, operation and direction of the newspaper.

Mr. Machaskee joined The Plain Dealer in 1960. Before being named Publisher in 1990, he had served five years as Vice President and General Manager. Previously, he served as Director of Labor Relations and Personnel, Assistant to the Publisher and Promotion Director. In June, 2006 Mr. Machaskee retired from The Plain Dealer.

Born in Warren, Ohio, Mr. Machaskee worked as a sports reporter and general assignment reporter for the Warren Tribune before joining The Plain Dealer. He is a graduate of Cleveland State University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. Mr. Machaskee was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Cleveland State University in 1995, from the University of Akron in 1998 and from Heidelberg College in 2006.

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Shlomo Mofaz

Shlomo is a retired Colonel from the Israeli Defense Forces – IDF, with more than 25 years of practical and operative experience as an Intelligence officer in Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, Research and Analysis, Risk and Threat Assessment. He is now a research fellow in the ICT (International Institute for Counterterrorism – Herzliya, Israel). Shlomo also provides strategic consulting to countries and organizations in the fields of National Security, HLS, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, including integrated solutions and technology.

Shlomo is doing his Doctoral studies at Bar-Ilan University, after completing his MA in Political Science (with distinction), University of Haifa, and BA in History of the Middle East (with distinction), Tel -Aviv University. He also graduated from the Israeli National Security College.

During his active IDF days he was the Deputy Head of the Directorate of Military Intelligences (DMI) Research Division, Representative of the DMI in the United States and head of the Counter Terrorism Department in the DMI.

He is currently preparing National Threat assessment for a few countries in the Middle East, Africa and South America as a base for security solutions at the national level. Co-founder and CEO of an Intelligence systems company providing Intelligence services in the fields of security and public safety in various languages, he also manages three startup companies that specialize in operational intelligence and security solutions.

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Prof PhD Zorana Z. Mihajlović

Zorana is Serbia’s top energy expert. She has been a member of the Serbia government from 2012 to 2022, as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure and in the previous term she held the post of Minister of Energy, Development and Environment Protection. The Serbian Government has also appointed her EBRD Governor.

Educated in Serbia, Zorana holds a PhD in the field of Energy and Economic Development and is a Professor of Economy, Sustainable Energy Security, Renewable Energy Resources and the Economy of Natural Resources at one of best private universities in Serbia, Megatrend University in Belgrade.

Zorana started her successful career as a high school professor in 1993, but soon joined the Serbian power company EPS in 1996 and ended her 10-year employment in the energy giant as the head of the Planning and Analyses Department. She joined the Cabinet of deputy Prime Minister of Serbia Miroljub Labus in 2004, was his energy advisor until 2006 when she took over the position of his Chief of Staff and chief of his energy and environment protection department. Zorana was a member of the EPS Board of Governors, and was also the energy advisor to the general manager of the Nikola Tesla airport in Belgrade, and the editor in chief of the EU Market monthly magazine.

Zorana is the founder of an NGO “Women’s Government. Zorana is a member of a number of other NGOs and expert associations, including the European Movement for Serbia and Serbia-France Society, and one of the founders of the Congress of Serbian-American Friendship. At the end of 2019, she was elected a member of the Employers' Council of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade, and in August 2021, she was elected president of the Assembly of the National Petroleum Committee of Serbia, which is a part of the world oil federation. She has written or co-authored four books focusing on energy and development. She has taken part in hundreds of seminars or projects, like the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) “Sustainable Development Strategy for the Republic of Serbia”, all devoted to energy, energy security, environment protection, energy sector corruption and relationship between energy and politics.

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Fahri Musliu

Fahri Musliu is a retired journalist and one of the most prominent analysts in SEE. He wrote for Koha Ditore, BBC and the Voice of America in Belgrade. He is one of the founders of European Movement in Serbia and co-founder of Forum for ethnical relations and Independent journalist association of Serbia. He graduated from Faculty of Political Science in Belgrade, major in journalism.

He was born in 1948 in the village Zaplužje in Kosovo. He became a journalist in 1968 and was a correspondent and associate for many news agencies in Serbo-Croatian, Albanian and English. He started his career in Rilindi in Belgrade only to be continued at Radio Yugoslavia, Borba, Danas, etc. Prior to his retirement he worked at Radio Television of Kosovo while he is still contributing to Koha Ditore and Al Jazeera Balkans. He was one of the founders, director and Editor in Chief for magazine "Europe" in Serbian and English (1996-1998) in Belgrade.

He is into publishing and he has published several documentary books in Albanian and Serbian. Some of them are “Montirani procesi protiv kosovskih Albanaca 1999-2002-(2002, 2007);   “Razrešenje kosovskog čvora – pogled s’obe strane”, (2005); “Dnevnik Albanca u Beogradu”, 2006 (war diary): “Masakar u Suvoj Reci”, (2010); Monografia “Bekim Fehmiu- Odisej Kosova” in Albanian, while the Serbo-Croatian version is under preparation.

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Ambassador Darko Tanasković

Darko Tanaskovic born in Zagreb, 1948, the leading Orientalist scholar in this part of Europe, is currently serving as Serbia’s Ambassador to UNESCO. He is a regular or visiting Professor and head of Oriental studies in several universities and institutes in Serbia and abroad, including Sarajevo, Banja Luka and Skopje, the College of Social Sciences (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales – EHESS) in Paris. He is teaching multiple subjects: Arabic, Turkish, Introduction into Oriental Philology, Arabic Literature, Persian Literature, Foundation of Islamic Civilization, and in postgraduate curriculum - Introduction to the Comparative Grammar of Semitic Languages, Linguistic and Literary Arabic, Islam and Christianity, Islamic Fundamentalism, etc.

He has published more than a score of books and over 600 pertinent scientific and professional papers in the field of Oriental studies. Darko is a member of the Executive Committee of the Euro-Arabic University in Rome and member of  the European Academy of Arts and Sciences  - Salzburg. He is a corresponding member of the Turkish Language Society in  Ankara and is fluent in several languages. He is also a member of the Council of Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.

Darko served as the Ambassador to Turkey and Azerbaijan from 1995 till 1999. He was appointed a member of the Yugoslav Commission for Truth and Reconciliation in March 2001. From 2002 till  2008th  served as the Yugoslav Ambassador to the Holy See (the Vatican) and with the Knights of Malta . Pope John Paul II awarded him the with The Order of the Grand Cross of Order of Pius IX (October 2004) and the Grand Master of Malta Knights Order (October 2005), Order of the Grand Cross of the Order for  military merits. Darko Tanaskovic is married with three children

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Gábor Kovács

Gábor Kovács is a banker and philanthropist from Hungary. After high school he received a scholarship to the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) from where he graduated in 1980. Kovács started a professional career at the foreign currency division of the Hungarian National Bank. In 1985 he transferred to Citibank as managing director, later he moved to Citibank London where he was responsible for the bank’s Eastern European investments. In 1991 Kovács returned to Hungary to form an investment company, Bankár Holding, specialized in corporate mergers and acquisitions and investment banking. Expanding his interests beyond the financial sector, Kovács opened the first private hospital in Hungary in 1998.

Gabor has been purchasing works of art for fifteen years. Covering the period from the early 18th century to the present, the collection is comprised of nearly 400 pieces. In 2002 he established the Kovács Gábor Art Foundation (KOGART) with a donation of 3 billion HUF (approximately 10 million GBP) with the aim of supporting contemporary artists in Hungary. The Foundation’s gallery is located in a historic villa on Andrássy Avenue in Budapest, bought and renovated by him. Kovács also purchased a monastery in Sopron, Hungary. The project received significant support from the Norwegian Fund and the building was renovated in 2010 to become the home of an international retreat, education and meditation centre of an international organization, World Servers Foundation (WSF) that was enabled by r Kovács in Geneva in November 2010. Kovács is very honoured to be a member of the Trilateral Commission since 2006.

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Ulysses Kyriacopoulos

IN MEMORIAM 1952-2022

Arts patron and leading businessman, Ulysses Kyriacopoulos was the Chairman of the companies S&B Industrial Minerals S.A. and Motodynamics  S.A, a member of the Trilateral Commission and the General Council of the Bank of Greece. He was the Chairman of the Federation of Greek Industries, UNICE Special Representative for Mediterranean Affairs and former Vice President of UNICE, the leading organization that represents employers΄ interests in Europe.

Ulysses served as member of the Board of Lambda Development SA and of Lavipharm SA. and on the Βoard of Air Liquide Hellas S.A., Delta Holding S.A, and J.Boutaris & Son Holding S.A. as well as on the Advisory boards of INSEAD and Athens College. He was also formerly the President of the Greek National Opera and Vice President of the Hellenic Exchanges Holdings SA. .

He studied Mining Engineering at Montanuniversitaet Loeben in Austria and at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. He received his M.B.A. at the European Institute of Business Administration (INSEAD) in Fontainebleau, France.

Ulysses was born in New York in 1952, spoke four languages. He was married to Nicole and had three children.

Voicing his condolences, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said Kyriacopoulos left “a difficult-to-replace void” in Greek economy and society, “as he combined a successful business career with an interest in the welfare of his employees, industrial tradition combined with extroverted innovation, cosmopolitanism with a quiet patriotism, and a contribution to the arts with anonymous assistance to weaker fellow human beings.”

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Mihai Tanasescu

Mihai Nicolae Tanasescu is the Vice-President of the European Investment Bank as od 2012. Previously, Mihai was a Senior Adviser to the International Monetary Fund’s Executive Director for 13 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus region and the Middle East since 2007. He is also a member of the Trilateral Commission.

Previously, Mihai was a member of the Romanian National Assembly and Chairman of the Budget Committee (2004-07). As Minister of Public Finance (2000-04) he strengthened the macroeconomic stability of Romania and negotiated its entry into the European Union. He also sat on the Board of Governors of a number of international financial institutions including the IMF and the World Bank.

Mihai has taught economics and public finance at Bucharest’s Academy of Economic Studies. He also studied economics and budget planning at the prestigious École Nationale D’Administration (Institute Internationale D’Administration Pubique) in Paris and participated in Harvard’s Business School’s executive development programme. He has written more than 500 articles and interviews, published in leading world papers like the FT, WSJ, Emerging Markets, etc. 

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Marko Čadež

Marko Čadež, born in 1977 in Belgrade (Serbia), is the President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. He is a leading media, communications and Serb-German relations expert who has made an immeasurable contribution to the development of the NGO and media sector in Serbia. Schooled in Germany, Marko graduated at the Academy for Marketing Communications, Frankfurt (Main) in 2001. He also studied at the International Institute for Journalism (IIJ), Sofia and the Deutsche Welle Akademie and Television Training Centre, Sofia, the South East European Network for Professionalisation of Media (SEENPM) and Danish School of Journalism. He is also a Licensed Trainer for Multimedia Journalism.

He started his professional career as an intern in daily newspaper "Politika" in Belgrade, later became a journalist with daily newspaper "Vesti" in Frankfurt (Main), and then moved on to staff the Serbian Desk of WDR in Cologne. He was a member of "Forum of Media Initiatives" (FOMIN), Belgrade, and in 1999-2000 Coordinator for Campaign on voters mobilisation "Nas je više" ("We are the majority") of FOMIN and opposition movement OTPOR. He was a lecturer at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Montenegro; Coordinator of investigative reporting workshops in Belgrade, organised by SEENPM, FOMIN and FRESTA of Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Coordinator of  court reporting workshops in Belgrade, organised by FOMIN und Heinrich Boell Foundation, Programme Coordinator and Advisor for Politics und Communications with Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Belgrade, Editor and presenter of monthly TV business show “PUT” at the Serbian State TV - RTS, trainer for Strategic Communication Management for Press/Media Officers of Serbian political party "G17Plus" (financed by the  Konrad Adenauer Foundation), Editor-in-chief of online magazine "Politikas" of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Belgrade.

Marko joined the Press Department of German Embassy, Belgrade in 2003 and two years later was appointed the Embassy Spokesperson, a job he still holds. He is also the Deutsche Welle Coordinator for Serbia and Montenegro

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Marko Škreb

Marko Škreb, former Croatian National Bank Governor, is the Chief Economist and Strategist at Privredna banka Zagreb, Croatia. Before that, he was a professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics. Following his academic career he joined the Croatian central bank, first as Research and Statistics Director and later on as Governor (from 1996 to 2000). In 1997 he was awarded the Central European Annual Award for Excellence - Best Central Bank Governor by the prestigious Banker media.
Since then he worked as consultant for International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to central banks in numerous countries, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Madagascar, Montenegro, Romania, Ukraine, etc. Marko also worked as a consultant, Independent Evaluation Office, IMF, Washington DC, on the evaluation of the Financial Sector Assessment Project (FSAP). During that time participated in a short term mission to Ukraine for the WB (on monetary policy and liquidity).
Besides his work at the PBZ, he teaches Money and Banking course at a private University in Zagreb, Croatia. Marko is a member of Intesa Sanpaolo International Network Research Steering Committee. He published a few articles and edited books, most of them on transition questions with the focus on financial issues.  more...

Vladan Atanasijević

Vladan Atanasijević  is a leading Serbian IT expert with a reputation that well surpasses the region. He is a member of the Asseco SEE Board of Governors and Integration Systems Director. He is also the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED). Born in Kragujevac in 1967, he attended technical faculties in Zagreb and Belgrade. Vladan has over 20 years of experience in the IT sector, working on projects involving large information systems for the government and both the public and financial sectors. He also has 15 years of experience in managing leading IT companies at the Serbian market.

He began his career in the Zastava company, Kragujevac, where he moved up the ladder from the position of manager of the organization system development department to the company’s telecommunications Executive Director. He founded his own start-up company, Virtual Team, in 2001 producing software for regional and global leaders. Five years later the company was merged into Hermes SoftLab, of Slovenia, and Vladan ran the Serbian branch. After being the head of ComTrade Spinnaker New Technologies for one year, he moved to the leading IT company in the region, Asseco SEE, to the position of Integration Systems Director, a post he occupies today. His cooperation partners are banks, state organs and institutions and large systems.

Vladan has won numerous awards, including Microsoft World Wide Award twice, Manager of the Year awarded by the Business Journalists Club, Manager of the Year awarded by The Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Best Start-Up Investment in Serbia Award and many others. Vladan is also very active in a number of business and manager’s associations and is involved in economic development and manager profession promotion. He was appointed  NALED Chairman of the Board of Governors in 2013: he is a founder of the Serbian Managers Association (SAM): deputy Chairman of the IT Experts Society of Serbia (DIS); member of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham), member of the Advisory Board of EMC company, etc.   

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Prof Dr Lukas Rasulić

Leading neurosurgeon in the region, Lucas, 48, is the head of the Department for Surgery of the Peripheral Nerves, Functional and pain management surgery (Department B), Clinic of Neurosurgery, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia. He is also a professor of neurosurgery, School of Medicine University of Belgrade.

Lukas graduated Medical School, University in Belgrade, in 1991 with an average grade 9.36.and specialized in neurosurgery in 1998 with cum laude. His further training in neuroscience, neurosurgery, radio surgery and health service management took him to Japan, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Portugal, France, Croatia, Romania, Brazil, Argentina, UAE, to name just a few countries with relevant and outstanding medical institutions where he worked, trained and excelled with summa cum laude. Since then he continued cooperating with dozens of hospitals, institutes and institutions worldwide.

Lukas has so far published 318 scientific publications, papers and presentations in international and national scientific papers and chapters in scientific books, including the Medical Lexicon which he co-authored. He has organized tens of international conferences and symposia on his subject in Serbia and the region and is a member of 17 international organizations in his field, including the Southeast European Neurosurgical Society-SEENS, which he founded in 2012, the European Association of Neurological Surgeons – EANS, Executive Committee, and the Congress of Neurological Surgeons – CNS. Lucas was an invited speaker at too-many-to-count international meetings and mentored dozens of future experts. Married with two children.

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Jagoda Kovačić

Honorary Consul of the Republic of Madagascar to Serbia, a member of the core founding team of East West Bridge and Chief of EWB Secretariat.  A top charity and fund-raising event expert, Jagoda has organized the biggest and most glamorous donor events in over the past decades in  Belgrade. Most recently, she was a part of the team that organized the landmark 38th European Session of the Trilateral Commission in Belgrade from Oct 31 to Nov 2, 2014. Jagoda was in charge of the very effective spouses program which as a result left a lasting and pleasant memory of Belgrade, its people, churches, museums and restaurants among the partners of the Trilateral Commission members.

A Law School graduate, Jagoda started her career in the Yugoslav Airlines, but won her PR spurs by bringing and setting up the Stimorol brand in the then Yugoslavia. During the stormy ‘90ties she worked as producer for international media outfits like RAI, Danish and Swedish TV. After the wars of the ‘90ties, Jagoda organized the first ever visit by the HSBC bank to Serbia. Jagoda is the co-owner of the London-based Global Communications Associates GCA Ltd consultancy with offices in Nicosia, Brussels, Helsinki and Washington DC. 

At the start of the new millennia, Jagoda and three other ladies from the USA, Great Britain and another from Serbia, formed the famous Dream Team which raised millions for the Children’s Oncology hospital in Belgrade, mainly by organizing the talk-of-the-town and fully-booked black-tie gala dinners. Thanks to their dedication, an entire new floor of the hospital was built, fully equipped, including three ORs. Furthermore, they raised funds to buy three vital pieces of equipment worth more than 500,000 euros for the Dragisa Misovic Hospital, Belgrade, and another for the Zemun Hospital. Jagoda participated in the events’ organization, PR, marketing, fund raising, donor and media relations, etc.

Jagoda has lived Switzerland, England, USA and BiH. While in England, she also pursued her private passion – interior decoration and graduated from the famous British KLC School of Interior Design. Speaks English, Italian and French, married and mother of three accomplished children.

 

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Željko Mitrović

Zeljko Mitrovic born in 1967 in Zemun, Belgrade, an excellent musician, music and TV producer and businessman, is the CEO and founder of the Pink Media Group, the biggest media company in the region. He is also a member of the Serbian Group of the Trilateral Commission. Zeljko started in the late 80’s with a recording studio, then opened a radio station in 1993 which was followed in 1994 by a TV station, TV Pink, soon the most popular commercial TV in the country. Zeljko founded the music publishing house CITY Records which today boasts of millions CDs sold and 500 performers under its label. After launching his satellite program, Zeljko in 2002 launched TV Pink Montenegro and a year later Pink BiH, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the only truly pan-entity station.

Today, Zeljko also owns another 43 channels broadcast in the networks of the biggest cable operators in Serbia, Montenegro and BiH. By the end of 2014, he will round up his program with 60 channels of various profiles like music, 10 blockbuster channels, educational, fashion etc. Zeljko then included into PINK INTERNATIONAL COMPANY a subsidiary, the PFI - PINK FILMS INTERNATIONAL – a unique film production complex catering to the most exacting producers of blockbusters and TV shows. In 2004 Zeljko bought a business jet airline which today operates six planes. 

Zeljko is also a philanthropist and financially supports the needy and orphaned. In his teen years, Zeljko founded a popular band Oktobar 1864 as one of the most talented base guitar players of his generation. He has now formed another one, “Berklee Groove”, which has released so far four singles and an album is in the making. Happily married, father of four.

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Prof Dr Miloljub Albijanić

A distinguished Serbian mathematician and intellectual, Miloljub was born in 1967 and graduated at the Faculty of Mathematics of the Belgrade University, his thesis being „Numeric Mathematics, Cybernetics and Optimization“. His specialist work was entitled 'Differential Equations“. He won his masters degree at the Belgrade FEFA Faculty analyzing „Knowledge as Source of Competitive Advantage“. His Phd thesis was called „Quantification of Intellectual Capital's Impact on Competitiveness“ and he defended it at the Singidunum Faculty, Belgrade in 2011.

He was a math professor from 1995 to 2003 when he became the Director of the Electrotechnical School Nikola Tesla in Belgrade. He was appointed Deputy Director of the Institute for the Promotion of Education and Teaching in 2004. Miloljub was a deputy in the Serbian Parliament from 2004 and parliamentary group leader from 2004 to 2006. He was also the Deputy President of the Serbian Parliament from 2007 to 2008 when he became the Director of the Serbia's Curicullum Literature Publishing Institute until 2013. He is the Editor for Mathematics at the Institute, Professor of Analyses with Algebra in the Mathematics Gymnasium and assistant Professor at Universities Singidunum and FEFA since 2011.

Miloljub has published „Intellectual Capital“ book and coauthored together with Dobrila Tosic and Daniel Milenkovic„Elements of Differential and Integral Calculus“, co-edited together with Milovan Vitezovic and Miodrag Mateljevic  the „People of Intellectual Virtue: 170 years of the Serbian Academy of Science and Arts“ monography, and has published scores of expert works in mathematics and intellectual capital. Married with two daughters, Tijana and Milena.

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Ambassador Ranko Vujacic

Ranko VUJACIC, born in 1951 in Belgrade, is a UN and development projects expert is currently Montenegrin AMbassador to Germany. He has spent three decades working in the United Nations International Development Organization where he started in 1981 as Chief of UNIDO Division of Administration, General Services, Buildings Management Section, Electrical Engineering and Buildings Operation Unit all the way to Director of UNIDO, Program Support and General Management Division, Operational Services Branch. Ranko is a chairman or member of numerous high-level committees within UNIDO, other international organizations and Austrian authorities. Ranko resides in Vienna.

De La Salle College, Malta , the Technical University,  Graz, Austrija, the Technical University, West Berlin, Germany, where he received his MS in electrical engineering, Diplomatic Academy, Vienna, Austria, Ecole Nationale d’Administration, Paris, France and Escuela Diplomatica, Madrid, Spain. Needless to say, Ranko is fluent English, French, Spanish, Russian and German. He was awarded a honorary PhD by the European University at the Technical University in Vienna.

Ranko has published numerous articles in local and international press on various subjects like UNIDO and related matters but also on Njegos, Nikola Tesla, Mileva Maric Einstein. He has organized scores of events related to culture and arts and promoted Serbian and Montenegrin culture in various European capitals.

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Prof Dr Zoran Ilievski

Zoran Ilievski is a Professor at St.Cyril and Methodius University, Head of East-West Bridge, Skopje and member of the Presidency of East-West Bridge International. 

Formerly, Professor at the Department of Political Science at the Faculty of Law Iustianus Primus and Head of the Centre for Policy Research and Analysis, Zoran won his B.A. in Political Science, Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus”, in 2004, a M.A. in European Integration and Regionalism, Faculty of Law, University of Graz, Graz, Austria in 2006, PhD in Political Science, Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus” in 2009, attended the Academic Fellowship Program for Returning Scholars of the Open Society Institute, Budapest, Hungary and the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education, Istanbul, Turkey. Until recently he was the Political Affairs Advisor to the Macedonian President and also coordinated the School of Young Leaders of President Ivanov and the President's Council of Foreign Affairs.

Zoran was engaged at the Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, as Assistant Chair for Political Theory (2007-2009), Assistant Professor of Political Theory (2009-2014), Head of Department of Political Science (2009-ongoing) and Associate Professor of Political Theory (2014-present), 2009-2012 Coordinator of the Теmpus IV ETF-JP-00442-2008 international project:  “Examples of Excellence in Joint Degree Program Development in South-Eastern-Europe”, 2009-2014 Contact person for the Republic of Macedonia of the FP7 Research Program of the European Union, in the area of Socio-Economic Sciences and the Humanities, 2008-2010 Assistant Coordinator of the Tempus JEP-41035-2006 international project: “Masters Programs in EU Institutions and Policies and Political Management”, 2005-2009 Senior Non-Resident Researcher at the Kompetenzzentrum Südosteuropa in Graz, Austria and a collaborator of EURAC Research in Bolzano, Italy.

For his extensive research work, Zoran won several awards including Knight of the European Order of St. George of the House of Habsburg-Lothringen, (St. Pölten, Austria). He is an Associate Fellow, World Academy of Art and Science (San Jose, California, USA), Distinguished Fellow and Appointed Professor of Ethical Leadership, New Westminster College (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada).  more...

Ambassador Jakob A. Finci

One of the Founding Fathers of East West Bridge Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Jakob Finci is a prominent Sarajevo lawyer, specializing in international commercial law, ambassador, professor and one of the most prominent humanitarian, social and religious leaders in his country, recognized for his efforts worldwide.  Born in 1943, Jakob comes from an old Jewish Sephardic family, which draws its roots in Sarajevo from mid-16^th century after being expelled from Spain.

Jakob is very active in Jewish Community and in 1991 was one of the founders and first Vice-President of the reborn Jewish cultural, educational and humanitarian society LA BENEVOLENCIJA, the only implementing partner for UNHCR, and one of the most successful NGOs, helping all citizens of Sarajevo and BiH on a non-sectarian basis in the war-torn country. In 1993, Jakob became its President, a post he holds to this day. In 1995 he became the first elected President of the Jewish BiH Community. From 1996 until 2000 Mr. Finci was the Executive Director of the Soros Foundation - Open Society Fund for BiH. Since 1994 he is a member, and from 2001 to 2002 was the President of the Association of Free Intellectuals Circle 99. In 1997 Mr. Finci co-founded the Inter Religious Council of BiH, and for two years served as the first President of the IRC, fulfilling the same function again in 2003.

In 2000, he was elected Chairman of the Association of Citizens “Truth and Reconciliation” aimed at establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in BiH. In 2001 the High Representative appointed him to Chair the Constitutional Commission of the Federal Parliament and in 2002 the first director of the State Agency for Civil Service. In 2008 he was named as BiH’s Ambassador to Switzerland, and non-resident ambassador to Lichtenstein.

On academic side, after working as a tutor at the UN University on the ECMIR project between 1988 and 1990, Jakob since 2001 lectures at an interdisciplinary postgraduate studies program at Sarajevo University. He also lectures on international commercial law, privatization, conflict resolution, interethnic coexistence, as well as about matters as the organization of humanitarian work, fund raising, Judaism, etc. As the only Bosnian representative, Mr. Finci is a member of the Advisory Council of OSCE -ODHIR’s Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

For his work, Jakob has been decorated several times: the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the American decoration First American Freedom in Richmond Virginia.  He has also been named Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur of the French Republic, and in 2009 was proclaimed “Person of the Year” by Sarajevo’s daily newspaper SAN, and Man of the Year for 2013 by Bosnian daily “Večernji list”. Jakob Finci received International Prize Primo Levi in 2013 in Genoa – Italy. Mr. Finci is married with two sons.  

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Prof Dr Milan Dimkic

In Memoriam 1953-2020

Prof Dimkic was Serbia’s foremost water management expert in Serbia. Born in Belgrade, 1953, he graduated from the Civil Engineering Faculty of the Belgrade University, hydro technical department, where he later also got his MA and Doctorate. His expert and scientific career was closely linked with the Jaroslav Cerni Institute where he founded a department for water protection within the Section for underground water systems and has worked on the protection and regeneration of polluted underground water-wells, thereby significantly promoting the Institute’s work. Dimkic was the Institute’s Director since 1999.  

Dimkic was a regular professor at the Faculty of Technical Sciences of the Novi Sad University. He has made a great contribution in teaching and promoting young engineers. The Institute has hired some 120 young engineers, 10 doctors of science and he used to mentor as many as six doctoral theses and score of master theses at a time.

Dimkic was the President of the Serbian Society for Water Protection, deputy chief of the Serbian delegation in the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), vice-president of the Group for underground waters management and member of Serbia’s delegation to the International Waters Association (IWA), etc. He was the chairman or presidency member of several significant international conferences and symposia. Together with two others he was the editor in chief of the book “Management of underground waters in big confluences” and EiC of the Serbian magazine Water Research and Management. He authored or co-authored over 50 studies and expert papers and close to 200 articles and studies in expert literature, magazines etc., both at home and abroad. He has received numerous awards for his outstanding work, including the prestigious October and Jaroslav Cerni Awards as well as the Professor Dr Vojislav K. Stojanovic Award given by the Association of University Professors and Scientists of Serbia. He was decorated with the White Angel Medal, 2^nd degree.

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Ambassador Jennifer Brush

Former Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General, United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, Jenny is a successful, decorated US and International Diplomat with 28 years of international experience, specializing in the former Soviet Union and former Yugoslavia, conflict resolution, nonproliferation and security issues. Conversant in seven languages, Jenny has broad experience managing international and USG assistance programs.

Prior to her last posting in Kosovo, Jenny was the Head of OSCE Mission to Moldova, Director of the Office of South Central Europe, EUR Bureau, State Department, Washington, DC, U.S.Embassy Belgrade, DCM/Charge d’Affaires, a.i. U.S. Embassy Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, DCM/Charge d’Affaires, a.i. U.S Embassy, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), Deputy Chief of Mission, Department of State, Bureau of Nonproliferation, Office of Proliferation Threat Reduction,  Washington, DC, U.S. Mission to United Nations System Organizations in Vienna, Austria First Secretary, U.S. Embassy, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Second Secretary, where she opened first U.S. Embassy in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the midst of the war, U.S. Embassy, Ankara, Turkey, U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, Poland and U.S. Embassy Belgrade, Yugoslavia from 1987 to 1989. Jenny received her Master of Public Policy at Princeton University in 1999, and Master of arts at  University of Washington , Seattle, WA in 1983.

Jenny has received numerous awards for her outstanding work including: Superior Honor Award for managing Embassy Ashgabat during the historic aftermath of the death of President Saparmurad Niyazov, Superior Honor Award for managing Embassy Majuro during the negotiations on the Compact of Free Association, John B. Weinberg Fellow in the Masters of Public Policy program at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University, Superior Honor Award for courage and bravery in arbitrating ethnic differences in the Bosniak/Croatian Federation, Superior Honor Award for courage and bravery in establishing the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo during wartime conditions, Meritorious Honor Award for courage and bravery in assessing the potential for the outbreak of violence in Kosovo,  National Defense Fellow for Russian studies at the University of Washington, Russian and East European Studies Program, Thomas J. Watson Fellow studying workers' self-management at the Political Science Faculties at the Universities of Zagreb and Sarajevo.

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Walter Andrusyszyn

Former advisor to the US President and National Security Advisor, Walter has extensive 23 years of comprehensive experience in problem solving working in the State Department and the White House and subsequently as a manager in the private sector. He is currently the Director, Program in National and Competitive Intelligence and Adjunct Professor for Business Administration at the University of South Florida.

He was Deputy U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO where he managed a mission of 170 during the Obama transition and prepared the President’s participation in the NATO summit in Strasbourg/Kehl, 2001-2003l Security Council / White House, Director, European Directorate, Department of State – Since August, 1980, Fall 2001 Director, Task Force on Terrorism, supervising a staff of over 300 in the largest task force in State Department history following the September 11 attack, 1999-2001    Director, NATO Office where he managed the largest policy office in the State Department and supervised annual programs of $200 million, 1997-1998 Chief of Mission, American Embassy Tallinn, Estonia, 1996-1999  Political Counselor, American Embassy Stockholm, 1995-1996 detailed to American Embassy Sarajevo during the Dayton Peace Talks, 1994-1995

Political Officer, American Embassy Bonn, 1992-1994 Senior Baltics Desk Officer, and before that Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Grenada desk officer, Political Officer, American Embassy Berlin (East), Visa Officer, American Embassy Stockholm etc.

Walter was decorated in 1996 with Secretary of State’s Award for Heroism, one of the State Department’s most prestigious awards.  On the eve of the Dayton Peace Talks, he talked his way through Serbian guard posts and navigated a harsh snow storm to drive about 250 miles and successfully secure the release of an American journalist. He also holds the Superior Honor Award, 1991, for contributing to the negotiated settlement of the re-unification of Germany, and has received the highest country awards from the Presidents of Germany, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, and Latvia as well as the King of Sweden for improving ties between the United States and their countries.

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Ambassador Yalım Eralp

Ambassador Yalım Eralp (retired) is a faculty member in the Department of International Relations of Istanbul Kültür University, and a diplomatic commentator at CNN TÜRK.

In 1962 he received his bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University. His career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spanned from 1962 to 2000, during which time he worked in New York, Brussels, Washington, D.C., Rome, and India, where he served as ambassador. He has also served as Advisor to Prime Ministers Mesut Yılmaz and Tansu Çiller, and as Ambassador at OSCE in Vienna.

At the present he is the Chairman of Defne/Daphne a Turkish-Greek Friendship Society.

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Miloš Stevanović

Miloš Stevanović, born in 1983 in Bijeljina, Bosnia-Herzegovina, is an attorney at law in the Law firm Stevanović. Since 2006, when Milos took over the company, it has grown into the largest law firm in BiH and one of the leading law firms in the region, all in a very short time. Milos is the newest Associate Member of the Serbian Group of the Trilateral Commission as a representative of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

After finishing his studies at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade in 2006, he expanded his legal and business knowledge through work and cooperation with prestigious offices in the UK, Israel and the leading offices in the region.

In previous governments of Republic of Srpska, he was the Prime Minister's advisor, he was also engaged in the Ministery of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, as the advisor for International Relations and Diplopamcy, as well as the advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs in the field of international relations and diplomacy.

At the moment, he is expanding his family business in the field of finance, banking and accounting, within the "Standard Group".

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Ambassador Ünal Çeviköz

Ambassador Ünal Çeviköz is a Turkish diplomat who retired from Government service in September 2014. He began his diplomatic career as second secretary at the Turkish embassy in Moscow in 1981. He served as the chief of section at the East European Department of the Turkish MFA in Ankara, later as counsellor of the Turkish embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In 1989, he was detached from the MFA to work in NATO’s International Secretariat, first at the Economics Directorate and then the Political Directorate as an East European expert. In 1994, he was commissioned with launching the NATO Information Office in Moscow, after which he prepared the NATO-Russia Founding Act. On return to the MFA in 1997, he worked as the head of the Balkan Department and then as the Deputy Director General for Caucasus and Central Asia.

He has served as the Turkish Ambassador to Azerbaijan (2001-2004), to Iraq (2004-2006) and to the United Kingdom (2010-2014). He was also the Deputy Under-Secretary for bilateral political affairs at the Turkish MFA from 2007 to 2010 and prepared the protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia. Ambassador Çeviköz presided the 28th General Assembly of the International Maritime Organisation between 2013 and 2015.

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Prof Dr Slobodan Grebeldinger

Professor Slobodan Grebeldinger (born in 1962, Novi Sad) is children's and vascular surgeon, professor at the Medical Faculty of the University of Novi Sad, Director of the Institute for Health Care of Children and Youth of Vojvodina, founder and a chair of the Centre for National Strategy (CNS).  Professor Grebeldinger is a founder and president of NGO "Right to work"which  has been achieving significant results in its humanitarian activities. He is the  founder of the first Department of pediatric vascular surgery in Serbia.

He graduated in 1991 from the Medical Faculty in Novi Sad (9.29).  He earned  Master's degree in 1996 with a study that has set global standards in the field of ultrasound diagnosis of appendicitis. He holds a PhD in 1999, with his fundamental research in the field of practical application of stimulation of stem cells.  He teaches undergraduates, residents in general and vascular surgery and doctoral students at Medical Faculty in Novi Sad. Professor is an author of 94 published papers (M119, 14SCI). He has been cited 52 times in domestic and international medical literature. He wrote four professional monographs. He is the author of software solutions for clinical work and scientific projects. He is a member of the editorial board and reviewer of professional journal BMJ and Sanamed.

For many years he was manager of the Clinic for Pediatric Surgery at the  Institute for Health Care of Children and Youth of Vojvodina in  Novi Sad and during his term in office clinic  made significant professional and scientific progress. As Director of the Institute he attracted significant investments that have led to the  accreditation of the Institute. The institution has become  prestigious and was made recognizable for the very low mortality rate (0.37).  Professor Grebeldinger participated in the work of health boards of the Democratic Party. He made art his hobby and  is  particularly interested in macro photography. He is a father of four children.

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Ana Trišić-Babić

Ana Trišić-Babić served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Holding a BA in Law and MA in Management, she started her career as a journalist with Radio Free Europe. In the post-war period Ana contributed to peacebuilding efforts through her work with USAID – OTI as the Project Leader for Media and NGO Development, and the Office of the High Representative (OHR) where she was the Assistant Head of OHR Political Adviser for International Relations. Her political and diplomatic career intertwined when she served as Foreign Affairs Advisor in the Government of Republika Srpska. Ana later worked as Assistant Minister for Bilateral Relations for six years, during which period she also headed the Work Group I for Stabilization and Accession Agreement.

While being Deputy Minister, she was also the President of BiH Council of Minister’s NATO Coordination Team. She pursued her security and state-building expertise academically and is an alumna of programs of distinguished world institutions, such as the Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Throughout her career, Ana worked hard to empower women as a part of peacebuilding and society development process. Her efforts were acknowledged when she was Bosnia and Herzegovina's candidate for CEDAW. Ana now works as a political analyst and consultant and is one of the founders and Board members of Center for Policy Development - CPD and Institute for Strategic Analysis and Dialogue - ISAD.

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Dr Dragana Djermanovic

Dragana is digital transformation expert, speaker, and founder proclaimed “Woman of the Decade in Social Media and Leadership“ at the international Women Economic Forum in New Delhi (India) and the only Serbian businesswoman enlisted in The Hundert's top 100 female entrepreneurs in Europe. The list has been confirmed by the renown American magazine Forbes.

As a representative of European Public Relations Education and Research Association (EUPRERA) and Euroblog Association, she was also the honorable jury member for "Social Media Awards" and respectable ambassador of WebIT committee of Internet Practitioners of South-Eastern Europe. Also, she was a jury member for European ICT awards in Luxemburg, as noble representative. This Serbian entrepreneur is a guest and keynote speaker at the world's biggest conferences and professional events in ICT, such as Women Economic Forum (New Delhi, India), WebCom (Montreal, Canada), CeBIT (Hannover, Germany), ICT Spring (Luxembourg), DigIT (Ljubljana, Slovenia), Le Web (Paris, France), Rise (Hong Kong), Web Summit (Dublin, Ireland), Next (Berlin, Germany) and many others. Business Women Association of Serbia presented her "The Flower of Success", a prestigious award for the most successful female entrepreneur in her home country.

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Ambassador Maurice Lubrano

Experienced Ambassador with a demonstrated history of working in the government relations industry. Honorary EWB Malta Chairman.

Maurice organized the historic Malta Summit between US President George H. W. Bush and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, on December 2–3, 1989, just a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was their second meeting following a meeting that included Ronald Reagan, in New York in December 1988.

During the summit, Bush and Gorbachev would declare an end to the Cold War although whether it was truly such is a matter of debate. News reports of the time referred to the Malta Summit as the most important since 1945, when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed on a post-war plan for Europe at Yalta.

Skilled in Foreign Affairs, Politics, Policy Analysis, Political Science, and Political Risk Analysis. Strong community and social services professional graduated from Lyceum, Malta, University of Malta and the Oxford University.

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Dr. Aleksandar Vidojević

Dr. Aleksandar Vidojević is a career diplomat with 22 years of experience in Foreign Service, international organizations and academia, specializing in foreign policy and national security issues. For 11 years he worked as senior career diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affair of the Republic of Serbia, on arms control, nuclear non-proliferation, peacekeeping operations, NATO Partnership for Peace Program (PfP) and other security related issues. His main research interests are: diplomacy, international public law, international organizations, foreign affairs, international relations, conflict resolutions, negotiations, defense and security, peacekeeping operations and inter-ethnic relations.

In the period 2006-2007 he served as the advisor to the Government of the Republic of Serbia at the UN- sponsored Kosovo Status Negotiations in Vienna, Austria. 

Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aleksandar worked as the National Legal Advisor to the Democratization Department of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission in Serbia. He was a Country Representative of the Project on Ethnic Relations (PER), Princeton University NJ, organizing inter-ethnic dialogue between various ethnic groups in the Western Balkans. Dr. Vidojevic dedicated 12 years of his career to academic research and teaching.  He worked as a research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Studies and Development and as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Management (English Department), both at BK University, Belgrade, lecturing two courses: introduction to international business law and business negotiations.

He holds doctoral degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Vienna, Master’s Degree from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and Bachelor of Arts from the Belgrade School of Law, University of Belgrade. He finished various specialized courses at the UN, OSCE, Harvard Kennedy School, George C. and Marshall Center for Security Studies. 

Dr.Vidojevic he was awarded received James H. Laue Memorial Scholarship Award by the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR), George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, U.S.A., 2000 for his contribution to the conflict resolution work in Kosovo.

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Branko M. Lazarević

Special adviser for foreign relations and cooperation to the EWB President, expert in geopolitics and security.

Branko is currently an adviser in the Ministry of the Interior of Serbia having completed his tour of duty as the Chargé d’Affaires a.i. in the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia to the Hellenic Republic where he has spent altogether more than five years. Prior to the post, Branko was employed in the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia as the Adviser to the Minister and his Chief of Staff. His many major achievements in his career include facilitating Visa liberalization for the citizens of the Republic of Serbia and organizing Serbia’s participation in the police peace-keeping mission of the United Nations.

Branko started his career in business working in companies like “Croll Invest” and “Roller”. He was the CFO of KMG Trudbenik, one of the biggest construction companies in ex-Yugoslavia. He was also the General Manager of the most successful Serbian basketball club “Partizan”.

Branko graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School, Athens, Greece and is enrolled in PhD studies at Faculty for management and economics, Novi Sad, Serbia. He earned his master’s degree at the same faculty. Branko graduated from the state university of economics in Belgrade in 1986.

Branko is a Special Advisor to the Economics Institute, Belgrade, a member of the Navy Club, Piraeus, Greece and a Honourable Member of the Rotary Club, Agia Paraskevi, Greece. He was also a member of the Executive Board of Football Association of Serbia, and of the Board of  the water polo club “Partizan”. 

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Ali Wyne

Ali Wyne is a Washington, DC-based policy analyst in the RAND Corporation’s Defense and Political Sciences Department.  He serves as a nonresident fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a nonresident fellow with the Modern War Institute.  Since January 2015 he has been the rapporteur for a National Intelligence Council working group that convenes government officials and international relations scholars to analyze trends in world order.

Ali served as a junior fellow in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s China Program from 2008 to 2009 and as a research assistant to Graham Allison at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs from 2009 to 2012.  He has also conducted research for Robert Blackwill, Derek Chollet, Henry Kissinger, Wendy Sherman, and Richard Stengel.  From January to July 2013 he worked on a team that prepared Samantha Power for her confirmation hearing to be ambassador to the United Nations.  From 2014 to 2015 he was a member of the RAND Corporation’s adjunct staff, working for the late Richard Solomon on its Strategic Rethink series.

Ali is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a David Rockefeller fellow with the Trilateral Commission, a security fellow with the Truman National Security Project and one of the 99 most influential professionals in foreign policy under 33, according to Young Professionals in Foreign Policy and the Diplomatic Courier

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Ambassador Dragana Filipovic

 Highly experienced career diplomat with missions in bilateral and multilateral affairs, representing either country, or international organisations, working in the headquarters, or in the field. Law school graduate, Dragana has provided leadership across the fields of negotiations, security issues, preventive diplomacy, mediation, post-conflict capacity building, implementation of judicial reforms, and promotion of democracy and human rights. Key-note speaker or panelist on issues related to conflict management, women’s rights, human rights, international law, religious and cultural diversity.

Dragana served as Ambassador, Head of Office, Permanent Observer of the Council of Europe to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva; Ambassador, Special Representative of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Head of CoE Office in Azerbaijan Republic; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of Serbia to the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France; Director - Directorate for Americas (North and South), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Serbia; Deputy Head, Research and Documentation Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Serbia; Director for Cooperation in Combating International Terrorism and Organized Crime, Research and Documentation Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Serbia; Minister Counselor, Directorate for Americas (North and South), Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro; Counselor for Political Affairs, Embassy of Republic of Serbia and Montenegro to U.S.A. Washington, D.C.; Counselor for United Nations Security Council Affairs, Department for United Nations and International Organizations Ministry of Foreign Affairs of FR of Yugoslavia.

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Mladen Vratonjic

Mladen is the Chairman of the Board at TCCA, the most influential global association leading the development and promotion of standardised critical communications solutions for mission and business critical users. A telecommunication professional for 37 years, Mladen covered many jobs: from installation and maintenance engineer, embedded software designer, quality assurance manager to large scale project management, different key expert consultancy positions and senior management in leading international associations and organizations.  

With a MA degree from the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic and Communications Engineering of the Belgrade University, Mladen also worked, inter alia, as Vice-President, Vice-Chair of Advisory Board and Vice-Chair of Operations Committee of EENA, the European Emergency Number Association, a non-governmental organisation focused on improving people’s safety & security. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Crisis Response Journal, Dorking, England, United Kingdom, Public Safety Specialist at Motorola Solutions and a key telecommunications expert in Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance (DCAF) and so on.  

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Prof. dr Slavenko Grgurević

Professor of Economics at the University of Belgrade and Senior Research Fellow of the Institute of Economic Sciences, and President of a Serbian NGO, EuroBalkan.

An expert in in the field of strategic development, energy, environment and sustainable development, Slavenko headed many projects for UNESCO, OECD, UNEP, GEF Council – New York, CEC, DG 17- Brussels , System International Foundation (Club of Rome) Budapest, International Institute for Applied System Analysis - Luxemburg, Vienna, Russian Academy of Science, Siberian Energy Institute-Irkutsk. Former Director of International Centre for developing studies of Serbia and Russian Federation. Member of Energy Division ECE (Geneva), Steering Committee, Sustainable Energy Development, Member of Executive International Union for Property Owners (Brussels) one of the oldest European lobbying association for protection of owners’ property interest.

Slavenko is also the Vice-President of Union of Employers of Serbia and member of the Managing Board of the Pension Fund of Serbia, Former President for the League for the Protection of Private Property and Human Rights (Geneva, Paris, Belgrade) and Coordinator NGO Cooperation Council for Serbia and Montenegro.

He was awarded a medal for NGO sector development in Serbia and Montenegro – World Peace Community Action Award (USA) in 2000. Published over 120 scientific papers in the country and abroad.

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Vladimir Čupić

Director of Business Development, Ernst & Young, Belgrade, Serbia, Vladimir is a leading Serbian and regional banking expert whose experience encompasses general management of financial, state and consultancy institutions and projects, privatization, corporate strategies development, evaluation, restructuring and reorganization of enterprises, either in ex-Yugoslavia or in the Central and Eastern Europe. 

Vladimir’s impressive experience includes: CEO, ALTA Banka a.d. Belgrade, Director, Atlantic Grupa, Representative Office in Serbia, two times , CFO, Victoria Group, Belgrade, Serbia, CEO, AIK Banka a.d. Niš, Belgrade, Serbia, CEO, Hypo Alpe Adria Bank a.d. Belgrade, Member of the Executive Board, Hypo Alpe Adria Bank a.d. Belgrade, Executive Director for Privatization, Privatization Agency, Republic of Serbia, Director, Privatization Agency, Republic of Serbia, Advisor to the Minister, Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ministry of Economics and Privatization and Manager in Charge, Deloitte & Touche Belgrade, Yugoslavia.

Vladimir is a member of dozens of related associations and committees with varying functions: Formerly Untitled Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia, Chairman of the Food and Agriculture Council of NALED, Member of the Supervisory Board Serbia, Chairman of the Board of Directors of National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED), Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia, Member of the Board of Directors of Serbian Association of Managers SAM, Chairman of the Banking and Insurance Committee of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Member of the Board of Directors of Serbian Tennis Association, Member of Serbian Business Club Privrednik, Member of the Board of Directors of Association of Serbian banks, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia, Member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Serbia, Member of the Board of Serbian Economists Association and Member of the Business Advisory Council for South Eastern Europe.

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Dr Marko Selakovic

Dr Marko Selakovic is UAE-based business professional, scholarly academic, and consultant. Born in 1977 in Kragujevac, Serbia, and residing in the UAE since 2015, Marko has proven leadership experience in strategic and business communications, including research and advisory. Throughout his career, Marko worked with numerous international organizations, trade missions, academic institutions, and business entities in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

Currently, Marko is faculty member and director – institutional development at S P Jain School of Global Management – Dubai, Sydney, Mumbai & Singapore. He is also head of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia Representative Office to the UAE. Marko had pivotal role in creation and delivery of the history-making Expo 2020 Serbia business program.  

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Prof Dr Amatzia Baram

Dr. Baram is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Middle East Studies, University of Haifa, Israel. In 1986 He was awarded the Ph.D. degree at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for a dissertation on Ba’thi Iraq. Since then, Dr. Baram has been teaching at the Universities of Jerusalem, Haifa, and Georgetown (Washington, DC).  Dr. Baram served as a Senior Associate Member at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, resident senior fellow three times at the Woodrow Wilson Center, twice at the US Institute of Peace, once at the Brookings Institute (all three in Washington, DC), and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Center in Bellagio, Italy. He also lectured at Fort Leavenworth.

At the University of Haifa, he served as Chairman of the Department of Middle East Studies, Director of the Jewish-Arab Center and the Institute for Middle East Studies, founder and Head of the Center for Iraq Studies and co-founder and the first Head of the Ezri Center for the Study of Iran and the Persian Gulf. Since 1986 Baram has been occasionally advising the US government during the Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations about Iraq and the Gulf.

He has published a number of books, the latest being Saddam Husayn and Islam 1968-2003 (WWC and Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014), an unavoidable experts’ reference   more...

ALEKSANDAR LALIĆ

Food and feed commodity trader, Aleksandar is Agricom Company Group doo, Sombor, Serbia, CEO, co-owner, shareholder and General Manager, since 2011. Member of the Trilateral Commission, Serbian Group.

He graduated from Northwood University, Midland, MI, USA in 2008 with BBA dual major: Marketing/Management; and made the Dean’s List, as an Honor Student.

His work experience includes positions like a sales manager in Meteor-Commerce doo, Sombor, Serbia, branch office sales manager of MJ Maillis Group, Athens, Greece, and Campus security supervisor at Northwood University, Midland, MI, USA (working for 40 hrs a week to finance his education), Sales and Promotion assistant at Lant Investment, Midland, from Oct  2007 - March 2008,  responsible for sales relationship with more than 50 customers, B2B accounts and intern at Dow Chemical, Midland, MI.

Aleksandar was the International Vice - President of the Student Union at Northwood University 2008, and won the Leadership Award, received full scholarship as one of the best students from 2.000 students for continuing education in USA, at Northwood University. GPA 9.75, Chief of Organizational Board of Entrepreneurship Fair; Outstanding Leadership and Organizational Award, Dean’s list as one of the best students at Northwood University, received golden graduation award – Cum Laude for outstanding academic achievements, member of AMA – American Marketing Association, International Membership, member of the board of the Chamber of Commerce and member of the Business board City of Sombor – for advising city major for businesses development and member of the city Parliament in Sombor.

 

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Nikola Avramović

Nikola is a finance and investment professional with 20 years of rich experience in investment banking and financial advisory, underpinned by a proven and comprehensive international track record.

Advising clients from around Europe on mergers and acquisitions, investments, strategy definition and risk management. Strong leadership skills, far-reaching worldwide professional network across a wide range of industries and international institutions, entrepreneurial mindset.

In September 2023, Nikola joined a highly reputable global advisory firm Alvarez&Marsal as a Senior Director, building and leading firm’s Central-East Europe advisory practice in financial industry area.

Prior to joining Alvarez&Marsal, Nikola was a member of a 3-person management team who has built AxFina Holding, Vienna based pan-European investor and asset manager, from zero to 200+ employees, in 7 EU countries, having more than EUR 3 billion assets under management.

Before that, Nikola was Director within the Financial Industry Advisory team in PwC Europe, for 4 years, where he successfully led and executed some of the largest transactions in the CEE region. From 2009-2015, he held several head positions in Hypo Alpe Adria Bank International, Austria, being responsible for the Balkan region.

Nikola is a member of Harvard Club Serbia and Harvard Club Austria.

Nikola gained his financial degrees from the University of Economics in Belgrade, Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, and the Harvard Business School.

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