Programme

The main principle of the circular economy is ensuring that each process in the life cycle of a product or service is carried out with maximum efficiency, yet with minimum waste, industrial emissions, and energy leakage. When the lifetime of a useful service has ended, goods are not discarded, but recycled. Companies work together to build ecosystems where waste from one producer becomes raw material for another. The net profit of the European market’s circular economy is forecast to be EUR 1,800 billion by 2030. A circular economy offers significant environmental and social benefits. The transition to a circular economy will require significant changes at the societal and state levels and will affect the choices made by citizens and by consumers as whole. A national roadmap for the circular economy will set the pace for changes in legislation and interaction between society and business. The circular economy will open up new business opportunities and create new jobs, not only to replace those that were lost during industrial structural changes. Bioeconomics is the economy of the regeneration of natural resources in the production of food, energy, goods, and services. The bioeconomics of Finland is based on the regeneration of forestry and chemical industries. Digital technologies can be used to replenish and maintain bioresources. New ways of utilizing bioresources at the regional level will promote economic growth and create new jobs. It is expected that new products, materials, and services will appear in forestry, chemical, and energy industries, as well as in the area of smart digital solutions. In Finland, a bioeconomics programme is part of the state development strategy for various sectors of the economy. Russia has approved an integrated comprehensive biotechnology development programme for the period until 2020. In Russia, the development of bioeconomics holds the promise of new jobs, investment, and stable economic growth. International cooperation and the sharing of best practices can help create the right conditions for the sustainable and consistent development of bioeconomics. How can an environment that will facilitate a circular economy in Russia be created? What potential does bioeconomics have for economic relations between Russia and Europe? What opportunities do the circular economy and bioeconomics open up for Russian and Finnish companies?

Moderator
Esko Aho, Prime Minister of Finland (1991–1995); Executive Chairman of the Board, East Office of Finnish Industries

Esko Aho

Prime Minister of Finland (1991–1995); Executive Chairman of the Board, East Office of Finnish Industries

Born 1954, M.Sc. (Soc.Sc.).
In April 2013 Mr. Aho was appointed as an Executive Chairman of East Office of Finnish Industries representing the leading Finnish corporations in Russia. He was also appointed to head the Business Team for Russia – the cooperation venture of the Finnish-Russian Chamber of Commerce, East Office and the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK’s Russia functions.
Mr. Aho enjoyed a long and distinguished career in government service. He served as a member of Finnish parliament for 20 years, from 1983. He was elected to the Prime Minister’s Office in 1991 at the age of 36, making him the youngest prime minister in Finland’s history. During his premiership, Mr. Aho chaired the Science and Technology Policy Council of Finland. Under his leadership, he also brought Finland into the European Union.
After leaving office in 1995, Mr. Aho spent one year as a Fellow of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University in 2000. He then served as the president of Sitra, the Finnish Innovation Fund, from 2004-2008.
Currently Mr. Aho serves as elected member of the Executive Board at the International Chamber of Commerce. He is also an invited member of Club de Madrid, an independent organization of former heads of state and government dedicated to strengthening democracy. Since founded in 2010, Mr. Aho has been a board member at Skolkovo Foundation, a non-profit organization charged with creating a new science and technology development centre in the Moscow suburb of Skolkovo. In May 2016 Mr. Aho was elected to the Supervisory Board of Sberbank.
In March 2015, he was named as Executive in Residence at Aalto University, where he works at the Department of Management Studies at the School of Business. Mr. Aho holds honorary doctorate degrees from the University of Vaasa, Finland, and the University of Alberta, Canada.

Key notes
Sergei Ivanov, Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport
Mika Lintila, Minister of Economic Affairs of the Republic of Finland

Sergei Ivanov

Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport

Born on 31 January in Leningrad. Graduated from the Translation Department of the Faculty of Philology of Leningrad State University and then completed higher courses of the USSR KGB in Minsk.
1981-1998 – Worked his way up from an operations officer of the First Main Directorate of the USSR KGB to First Deputy Head of a directorate of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation. Had three extended overseas assignments in Nordic countries and Africa. Following the reorganisation of the KGB, he continued work in the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation and then in the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation.
August 1998 – Deputy Director of the FSB and Director of the FSB Department for Analysis, Forecasting and Strategic Planning.
15 November 1999 – Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation. Colonel General in reserve.
28 March 2001 – Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation.
14 November 2005 – Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation.
16 February 2007 – Appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
12 May 2008 – Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
22 December 2011 – Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration.
12 August 2016 - Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport.
Speaks English and Swedish.
Married with one son.

Mika Lintila

Minister of Economic Affairs of the Republic of Finland

Mika Lintilä is the Minister of Economic Affairs since December 2016. Minister of Economic Affairs is responsible for the overall management of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. He deals with matters relating to industrial policy, innovations- technology policy, and regional development by heading Growth Services Department, the Corporate Steering Unit, Innovations and Enterprise Financing Department and Government Ownership Steering department under Prime Minister’s Office. Mika Lintilä represents the Centre Party and has been a member of Finnish Parliament since 1999. He is known especially for his knowledge of economic affairs, as his experience as a Member of Parliament includes membership of both the Finance Committee and the Commerce Committee.

Panellists
Alexander Drozdenko, Governor of Leningrad Region
Pekka Lundmark, President, Chief Executive Officer, Fortum Corporation
Elisa Markula, President, Chief Executive Officer, Tikkurila Oyj
Alexey Mordashov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Severstal
Marc Palahi, Director, European Forest Institute
Karl-Henrik Sundstrom, Chief Executive Officer, Stora Enso Oyj
Andrey Sharonov, President, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO

Alexander Drozdenko

Governor of Leningrad Region

Born on November 1, 1964 in the Dzhambul Region, Kazakhstan, Alexander Drozdenko graduated from Leningrad Agriculture Institute in 1986 with a degree in the economics and organization of agriculture. He obtained a PhD in Economics in 2007. Between 1988 and 2002, he worked in various positions in the Kingisepp District of the Leningrad Region. In November 2002, Alexander Drozdenko was invited to join the Government of the Leningrad Region and appointed as the Region’s Deputy Governor and Chairman of the Leningrad Region Committee on State Property Management. In May 2012, the Legislative Assembly of the Leningrad Region, on the recommendation of the President of the Russian Federation, elected Drozdenko as Governor of the Leningrad Region. He was inaugurated on May 28, 2012. On May 12, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree “On the Early Termination of the Powers of the Governor of the Leningrad Region.” Alexander Drozdenko has been appointed acting Governor of the Leningrad Region. At the pre-term gubernatorial elections in Leningrad Oblast that took place on 13 September 2015 Alexander Drozdenko received the majority of votes. On 30 September 2015 Alexander Drozdenko took office as the Governor.

Pekka Lundmark

President, Chief Executive Officer, Fortum Corporation

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.

Alexey Mordashov

Chairman of the Board of Directors, Severstal

Born in 1965, Alexey Mordashov has been working for Severstal since 1988. He started his career as a senior economist, becoming Chief Financial Officer in 1992. In December 1996, he was appointed as Severstal’s Chief Executive Officer. Between 2002 and 2006 he served as CEO of Severstal Group and was Chairman of Severstal’s Board of Directors. Since the introduction of the new structure of corporate governance in December 2006 Mr. Mordashov has been CEO of Severstal. From December 2014 till June 2015 Alexey served as CEO of AO "Severstal Management" - managing organization of PAO Severstal. In May he was elected as Chairman of Severstal’s Board of Directors.
Vice-Chairman of World Steel Association. Head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs’ Committee on Integration, Trade and Customs Policy and WTO. Serves on the Entrepreneurial Council of the Government of Russian Federation. Co-chairman of the “Trade as a Global Driver” Taskforce of the “Business 20” of “Group of Twenty”. Co-chairman of the Northern Dimension Business Council. Vice-President of Russian-German chamber of commerce, member of the Russian-German workgroup responsible for strategic economic and finance issues. Member of the EU-Russia Business Cooperation Council. Alexey earned his undergraduate degree from the Leningrad Institute of Engineering and Economics. He also holds an MBA degree from Newcastle Business School of Northumbria University (UK).

Marc Palahi

Director, European Forest Institute

Marc Palahí is the Director of the European Forest Institute and responsible for leading the organisation as an interface between science, policy and society. Marc has a PhD in forestry and is an expert on forests and global change. He has written articles about the transformational role of forests in fighting climate change and developing a European bioeconomy. Marc believes that as we are facing unprecedented global challenges, such as climate change, water, energy and food security, migration crisis and biodiversity loss, science is more important than ever – and science needs to partner with media to have impact. Solving the global issues needs more scientists speaking like journalists and more journalists thinking like scientists.

Andrey Sharonov

President, Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO

Andrei Sharonov joined Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO in September 2013 as Dean, having left the position of Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Economic Policy in Moscow City Government.Born in 1964 in Ufa, Andrei Sharonov graduated as an engineer from Ufa State Aviation Technical University and as a lawyer from Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation; in 1994 obtained his PhD in Social Studies.From 1989 to 1991 a Member of the Soviet Parliament, Congress of People’s deputies of the USSR; till 1996 chaired the Russian Federal Committee (Ministry) on Youth Affairs.In 1996-2007 occupied the positions of Deputy Minister, State Secretary and First Deputy Minister at Economics Development Ministry of Russian Federation.In the period from 2007 till 2010, Managing Director and the Board of Directors’ Chairman for Troika Dialog (Private Investment Company).Board Member for OJSC NOVATEK, ALROSA Group, Bank of Moscow OJSC, OJSC Sovcomflot, MC NefteTransService LLC and JSC Eco-System Management Company.As of December 22, 2010, by appointment of Moscow City Mayor Decree, Andrei Sharonov served at Moscow City Government as Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Economic Policy in charge of budgeting, industrial and city business development, regional rate regulations as well as competition and public retail and procurement policy, trade and services.Since 2012, Andrei Sharonov is heading Executive Committees of Moscow Urban Forum and Open Innovations Forum.Andrei Sharonov received 2009 “Aristos” Awards as “Independent Director” and “Director of the Year”; the Person of the Year in Business Reputation for 2012.Andrei Sharonov was awarded with the Order of Honour and granted the title of “Honoured Economist of Russian Federation”.

Front row participant
Joni Hautojarvi, Managing Director, Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta Oy

Joni Hautojarvi

Managing Director, Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta Oy

EDUCATION:
Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Chemical Technology
- Master of Science in Chemical Engineering1993.
- Doctor of Science in Chemical Engineering 1999.
ESSENTIAL WORK EXPERIENCE:
Managing Director, Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta Oy 1.10.2009-
General responsibility for Norilsk Nickel operations in Finland
Director of Operations, Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta Oy 1.1.-30.9.2009
General responsibility for Harjavalta nickel refinery operations including production, plant services & investments, EHS, finance & accounting, and HR.
Technical Director, Norilsk Nickel Harjavalta Oy 1.6.2008-31.12.2008
Responsibilty for production, investment projects and plant services in Harjavalta nickel refinery.
Director of R&D+technology, Inorganics, OM Group Inc. 2006-2008
Responsibility for R&D, product and process development and raw material processes within the Inorganics business area in OM Group.
Director of R&D+technology, OMG Finland Oy, 2005-2006
Overall responsibility for R&D and product & process development as well as technical customer service and laboratory services within OMG Finland including cobalt & nickel operations.
Director of R&D, OMG Kokkola Chemicals Oy, 2002-2005
Overall responsibility for product & process development, technical customer service, pilot plant, laboratories, and raw material management.
Development Manager, OMG Harjavalta Nickel Oy, 2001-2002
Managing a group for product & process development in Harjavalta nickel refinery and in Kokkola cobalt refinery.
R&D Manager 1995-2001, Suominen Corporation
Responsibility for R&D and product development for the nonwovens business
CURRENT MAIN AFFILIATIONS
- Chemical Industry Federation of Finland, member of the board 2017-
- Satakunta Chamber of Commerce, chairman 2016-
- Association of Finnish Steel and Metals Producers, member of the board 2010-
- Eurometaux, member of Executive Committee 2015-
KNOWLEDGE OF LANGUAGES:
Finnish (native), English (fluent, work & reporting language), Swedish (national examination), basics in French, German and Russian.