Programme

Luca Caruso is a partner and director in Bain & Company's London office. He is the leader of Bain's European Industrial Goods & Services practice. He is also a founder of Bain's Oil & Gas practice.Luca has worked extensively in a wide range of industries throughout Europe and the United States, including oil and gas, engineering, automotive, aerospace and private equity. He specializes in strategy development, performance improvement and acquisitions. Luca joined Bain & Company in 1989 and was elected to the partnership in 1995. He is a co-founder of Bain Nordic and worked in Stockholm between 1994 and 2007, where he served as office head for nearly a decade. Between 2010 and 2015, he served as the head of the Moscow and Kiev offices, where he is currently the chairman.

Rowen Bainbridge is a consultant in Spencer Stuart’s Energy and Industrial practices, focusing on clients in the upstream and oil field services sectors in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Based in the firm’s London office, Rowen brings more than 24 years of firsthand industry and functional expertise to his role, including experience as chief executive officer, marketing officer and board member. He also covers: Commodity Trading and Renewable Energy; Energy industry and senior leadership expertise. Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Rowen held various international business leadership roles in the energy and natural resources industry, most recently serving as CEO of Aurelian Oil & Gas, an AIM-listed exploration and unconventional resources company. Rowen has experience in diverse environments and business cultures, spanning large multinationals, smaller privately owned and listed businesses, as well as startups. He has worked extensively in the areas of strategy development and implementation, business transformation and growth, and operational and line management. He began his career with ICI and after three years in energy trading and risk management roles, moved to New Zealand to join Fletcher Challenge Limited. He then spent nearly seven years at BHP Billiton in Melbourne and London, covering multiple commodities and geographies. He specialised in the upstream sector primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and Africa. Rowen holds a BSc in civil engineering from Loughborough University and an MSc in management studies from Durham University Business School. He serves as a governor of Great Walstead School.

Giles Dickson is the Chief Executive Officer of WindEurope (former EWEA). WindEurope is the voice of the European wind industry, actively promoting wind power in Europe and worldwide. It has nearly 600 members across 50 countries, making it the largest wind energy network, including wind turbine manufacturers, component suppliers, power utilities, project developers, finance and insurance companies, research institutes, national wind and renewable associations. WindEurope actively engages Governments in Europe on public policies that affect wind power and its integration in the energy system. It coordinates research and development for the wind industry in Europe and organizes trade fairs and conferences for the industry. Prior to joining WindEurope, Mr. Dickson was Vice President of Global Public Affairs at Alstom. He was also a civil servant in the UK government for over 15 years.”

President and CEO as of 7 September 2015 Born 1963, nationality: Finnish MSc (Eng.) Member of the Management Team as of 7 September 2015 Employed by Fortum since 2015. Previous positions: Konecranes Plc, President and CEO, 2005–2015; Konecranes Plc, Group Executive Vice President, 2004–2005; Hackmann Oyj Abp, President and CEO, 2002–2004; Startupfactory Oy, Managing Partner, 2000–2002; Nokia Corporation, various executive positions, 1990–2000; Key positions of trust: East Office of Finnish Industries, Member of the Board. Fortum Foundation, Chairman of the Board.

Mario Mehren is the Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Wintershall. From 2011 until assuming this role in 2015 he was a member of the Board with responsibility for the Russia board department and for exploration and production in Russia, North Africa and South America. He first joined Wintershall as the Head of Finance and Information Management in 2006. Prior to Wintershall Mr. Mehren worked at BASF from 1998 to 2006, where he was successively a specialist adviser in the Corporate Finance department; Head of Finance and Accounting for BASF Schwarzheide GmbH; and Managing Director of Finance and Administration for BASF Chile S.A. Mr. Mehren holds a degree in Business Administration from Saarland University in Saarbrücken, Germany. Wintershall, based in Kassel, Germany, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF in Ludwigshafen. The company has been active in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas for over 75 years. Wintershall focuses on selected core regions, where the company has built up a high level of regional and technological expertise. These are Europe, North Africa, South America, as well as Russia and the Middle East. Today the company is Germany's largest producer of crude oil and natural gas.

He was born on October 30th, 1978 in Komárom. He is an economist who earned his degree in International Relations from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences and Public Administration in 2002. He joined Fidesz in 1998. He was elected to member of the municipal government in the same year in the city of Győr, and then he obtained a mandate between 2006 and 2010 again. In 2005 he was elected to president of Fidelitas, the youth organization of Fidesz. He occupied this position until 2009. He first became member of the National Assembly in 2002. He received mandates in 2006, 2010 and 2014 as well; currently he serves his fourth term as member of the Parliament. He served as communications director and spokesman of the Fidesz between 2006 and 2010, and he was chief of staff of the party’s president from 2009 to 2010. During his parliamentary work he was deputy faction leader of Fidesz and chairman of the Parliament's Budget Committee. He served as the Prime Minister’s spokesman from June 2010 to June 2012, and headed the Prime Minister’s staff in charge of press, international and organizational affairs. In June 2012 he was appointed to State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of the Prime Minister’s Office. He served as Government Commissioner for Hungarian-Russian Relations and Hungarian Chinese Bilateral Relations from March 2013. In June, 2014, he was appointed to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Since September, 2014, he serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Vyacheslav Solomin joined ESE in 2007 as Chief Financial Officer; in 2014 he was appointed company’s CEO. Mr. Solomin is in charge of day-to-day operations as well as implementation of the company strategy to become a global player in renewable energy. Under his management, ESE has strengthened its position as one of the leaders in the Russia’s renewable energy sector. ESE launched a pilot project in solar power – the Abakan Solar Power Plant, and unveiled a $200mln modernization program of its hydropower plants to boost electricity production. Prior to joining ESE in 2007, Mr. Solomin was CFO at INTER RAO (Russia’s largest state-owned electricity producer) and before that he spent over nine years with PriceWaterhouseCoopers focusing on energy companies. Vyacheslav Solomin is a member of the Energy Committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. Vyacheslav Solomin graduated from the Far Eastern State University, Russia, and the University of Maryland, USA.

In 1995 he graduated with honours from Norilsk State Industrial Institute with a degree in Economics and Management in the Metals Industry as a planning engineer. From 1990 through 2007 he held various positions in JSC Zavenyagin Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant and OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel, where he started working as a specialist and eventually became the General Director of LLC Norilsk Support Complex, a subsidiary of OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel. From 2008 through 2009 he served as the Head of Administration of Norilsk. From 2009 through 2011 he was the General Director of JSC Mining and Metallurgical Complex Kazakhaltyn. From 2011 through 2013 Mr. Teksler worked as the Managing Director and Head of CJSC Polyus Gold Mining Company; From 2013 through 2014 he held the position of Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation; Since November 2014 he has held the post of First Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

In April 2015, Didier Houssin was appointed Chairman and CEO of IFP Energies nouvelles. Prior to this, in December 2012, he was appointed Director of Sustainable Energy Policy and Technology at the International Energy Agency (IEA). In this role, he was responsible for the development of low-carbon technologies and energy transition (ETP scenarios to 2050, technology roadmaps, carbon capture and sequestration and the IEA's international RD&D network). From July 2007 to October 2012, he was Director of Energy Markets and Security at the IEA. In this role, he was responsible for analyzing energy markets, in particular oil, gas, electricity and renewable energies, and overseeing security of supply. Before joining the IEA, Mr. Houssin had gained broad experience in numerous positions both in the French Government and the private industrial sector. From 1997 to 2004, he was Director of Energy and Mineral Resources at the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, and from 2004 to 2007, he was Managing Director of BRGM, the French Geological Survey, with a wide range of managerial responsibility over the 850-strong group. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Houssin held a position in European Affairs at Total, where he was responsible for developing EU strategy. Mr. Houssin, a French national, graduated from the École nationale d’administration (ENA) and has a Master in International Law from the Paris Sorbonne University. He also has a degree in Political Science from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris.

Grigory has brought more than 19 years of operational experience in oil and gas sector. In January 2015, he established VYGON Consulting company, which is entirely based on providing strategic consulting for industrial entities, analytical support for the public authorities, conducting research in the energy sector. From 2011 to 2014, Grigory was the director of Energy Center in Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO. In 2008, before the foundation of the Centre, he headed the Department of Economy and Finance in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation, where he was engaged in various issues, including economic incentivizing of oil and gas sector. In 2006-2008, he was the chief economist in TNK-BP, being responsible for strategic planning and analytical support to interact with public authorities. Before joining TNK-BP, he worked as an independent consultant and director in the Corporate Finance Department of the Institute of Financial Studies. In 1996, Grigory graduated from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, in 2000 – received a PhD degree in the Central Economics and Mathematics Institute of RAS. The key field of interest – oil and gas industry strategy and economic development, improvement of state regulation in terms of taxation and subsoil management. During the past 10 years, he has been actively involved in elaboration of strategic sectoral documents and regulations on economic stimulation of Russian oil and gas sector.

Irina Gaida joined BCG in 2005. She is the leader of the Energy practice group in BCG CIS. Irina works on a variety of issues, including organizational issues, operational efficiency improvements, and growth, as well as market entry strategies and due diligence/PMI support. Her client portfolio includes Russian VIOCs and major international companies working in Russia. As a member of the global Energy practice group, Irina is closely involved in several global studies on topics such as BRIC markets fuel retailing and gas market developments. Prior to BCG Irina worked as a strategy consultant on various projects for industrial goods, FMCG, health care, and financial services companies in Europe and former CIS countries. She also worked as an operational and financial auditor for United Technologies Corporation in London and Hartford, CT, and as an audit consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in St. Petersburg. Irina earned her MBA degree at Harvard Business School in 2003. She also holds an MSc degree in economics from the St. Petersburg State University, specializing in operations research. Irina has ACCA diploma in auditing and accounting and is a certified Russian Statutory Auditor.

In 1999, Nikolay graduated from Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (FINEC), and in 2004 he graduated from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin) and London School of Economics (LSE). He began his working career as a business-analyst in the German company Venturepark Incubator AG in 2000. There he studied business plans of startups and analyzed markets. In 2001 Nikolay was appointed as a consultant of the Berlin branch of McKinsey&Company, where he was responsible for intellectual property sourcing. He also provided advice to the leading German diversified holding in the merger and takeover projects and took part in the development of the sales boost programme for the German’s largest retail bank. At the same time he conducted the research on demand of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. To be more precise, Mr. Grachev analyzed strategic consequences of the Russian energy projects in North-East Asia. Before entering the Skolkovo Foundation Nikolay worked in the consulting firm Roland Berger Strategy Consultants (Russia). Since 2005 he had been its partner and Head of the sector-specialized centre "Energy and oil and gas industry" in Russia and CIS.

Born on July 14, 1975 in the city of Shelekhov of the Irkutsk Region. Graduated from the Irkutsk State Economic Academy in 1997 majoring in Economic Theory.From 2002 to 2007 he worked at OAO Sual-Holding where he was appointed Director of the Economic Department in 2005.In 2007 he joined RENOVA Group where he worked as Director of Investment Department and managed numerous projects.In June 2010 he was employed by Hevel, a joint venture of RENOVA Group and OAO RUSNANO, as Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance.In December 2013 he was appointed Director of Hevel’s Solar Cells Plant. Under his leadership, the plant was commissioned and achieved design capacity.On August 1, 2015 he was appointed to the position of General Director of Hevel Group that operates in three spheres: solar cells production, solar plant design and construction, and research activity.