09:00 – 09:15 Opening speeches
Mr. Nikolay Vassilev, CFA – President of the Bulgarian CFA Society
Mr. Vasil Terziev – Mayor of Sofia
09:15– 09:20 Opening speechь
Rob Langrick, CFA, CIPM - Chief Product Advocate for the CFA Institute, New York
09:20 – 09:25 Award Ceremony – The Biggest Reformers of CEE: 1990 – 2026
(The nominees have not been announced yet)
09:25 – 10:40 Panel 1: The Future of CEE in the 21st Century – Business and Politics
- Mr. Sergei Stanishev (Bulgaria) – Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2005 – 2009); President of the Party of European Socialists (2011 – 2022)
- Dr. Notis Mitarachi, CFA (Greece) – Member of Parliament in Greece since 2012; Minister of Citizen Protection (2023); Minister of Migration & Asylum (2020 – 2023); Deputy Minister of Labour & Social Affairs (2019 – 2020)
Moderator: Ms. Iliyana Petrova – Policy Advisor, Office of the President of Bulgaria
Co-moderator: Margarita Orfanidis (Kazakhstan) – Senior Public Relations Manager, PRO-Razvitie
10:40 – 10:45 The Voice of the New Generation
Speech by a young student, possibly accepted at a leading US university in Finance and Economics
10:45 – 11:00 Coffee Break
11:00 – 12:40 Panel 2: The Future of Cities – Architecture, Challenges, Money – Is CEE on This Planet?
- Mr. Richard Nelson (US, Japan) – Partner at Kengo Kuma & Associates, Tokyo, Japan
- Mr. Filippo Innocenti (Italy, UK) – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, London, UK
- Ms. Laura Narvaez Zertuche (Mexico, UK) – Partner, Foster + Partners, London, UK
- Mr. Andrew Yeoman (UK, Croatia) – Director, Tower 151 Architects, Zagreb, Croatia
Moderator: Mr. Nikolay Vassilev, CFA – Managing Partner, Expat Capital
Ms. Gergana Georgieva (UK, Bulgaria) – Architect, Foster + Partners, London, UK, will be also present at the event and available for conversations.
12:40 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 15:30 Panel 3: CEE Capital Markets, International Connectivity, Cross-Listings
- Mr. Ludwik Sobolewski (Poland) – f. CEO Warsaw Stock Exchange and Bucharest Stock Exchange, Manager, Capital Markets Expert, Strategy Advisor, Attorney, Warsaw, Poland
- Mr. Razvan Pasol, CFA (Romania) – CEO at Patria Asset Management, Head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations at Patria Bank, Bucharest, Romania
- Mr. Dimitris Orfanidis (Greece, Bulgaria, Hong Kong) – Head of Overseas Business Development – Da Cheng, Institutional Asset Management, Hong Kong
- Ms. Pervin Dadashova, CFA (Ukraine) – Director of Financial Stability Department, National Bank of Ukraine
Moderator: Ivaylo Penev, CFA – CEO at ELANA Fund Management
15:30 – 17:00 Panel 4: CEE Private Equity, Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, Deals
- Mr. Piotr Polanowski, CFA (Poland) – Managing Partner of Synerga + S.A.
- Mr. Elvin Guri (Albania, Bulgaria) – Managing Partner, CEO at INVENIO Partners
- Mr. Pavel Velkov, CFA (Bulgaria) – Managing Partner at Morningside Hill Capital Management, Sofia, Bulgaria
Moderator: Nikolay Vanyov, CFA - Head of Private Banking, DSK Bank
17:00 – 17:15 Coffee Break
17:15 – 18:40 Panel 5: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Finance – CFA Charterholders or Not, Should We Worry?
- Ms. Didem Ün Ateş (Türkiye, UK) – Advisor, Goldman Sachs Asset Management & AI; Founder & CEO of LotusAI
- Mr. Brian Pisaneschi, CFA (US, UK) – Senior Investment Data Scientist, CFA Institute, London, UK
Moderator: Mr. Kalin Metodiev, CFA (Board Member, CFA Society Bulgaria)