09:00 – 09:05 Opening speech
Mr. Nikolay Vassilev, CFA – President of the Bulgarian CFA Society
09:05 – 09:15 Opening speech
Ms. Tricia Rothschild, CFA – Interim CEO of the CFA Institute – Charlottesville, VA, USA; or by another Board Member
09:15 – 09:25 Award Ceremony – The Biggest Reformers of CEE: 1990 – 2026
(The nominees have not been announced yet)
09:25 – 11:15 Panel 1: “The Visionaries’ Panel” – The Future of CEE in the 21st Century – Business and Politics
- Optional: Javier Milei – President of the Republic of Argentina (2023 –)
- Mr. Sergei Stanishev (Bulgaria) – Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2005 – 2009)
- President of the Party of European Socialists (2011 – 2022)
- Mr. Notis Mitarachis, CFA (Greece) – Member of Parliament in Greece since 2012;
Moderator: Nikolay Vassilev, CFA
11:15 – 11:20 The Voice of the New Generation
Speech by a young student, possibly accepted at a leading US university in Finance and Economics
11:20 – 13:00 Panel 2: The Future of Cities – Architecture, Challenges, Money – Is CEE on This Planet?
- Mr. Riken Yamamoto (Japan) – 2024 Pritzker Prize winner, Partner at Riken Yamamoto
- Ms. Elizabeth Diller (US) – Partner at Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, New York – to be confirmed
- Mr. Richard Nelson (US, Japan) – Partner at Kengo Kuma, Tokyo, Japa
- Mr. Filippo Innocenti (Italy, UK) – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, London, UK
Moderator: Mr. Vasil Terziev (Bulgaria) – Mayor of Sofia
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch Break
14:00 – 15:40 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
- Mr. Renat Bekturov, CFA (Kazakhstan) – Governor of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC)
15:40 – 17:20 Panel 4: CEE Private Equity, Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, Deals
- Mr. Tommy Erdei, CFA (Hungary, UK, US) – Joint Global Head of Healthcare and Head of European Healthcare Investment Banking, Jefferies, London
- 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
- Mr. Piotr Polanowski, CFA (Poland) – Managing Partner of Synerga + S.A.
17:20 – 19:00 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