Programme

Elizaveta Osetinskaya is Editor-in-Chief of RBC holding, considered by many to be the largest media holding in the Russian Federation. Osetinskaya began her career at RosBuisenessConsulting and then at the Segodnya newspaper as a correspondent specializing in energy. She then worked at Vedomosti, a joint venture between the Financial Times and Wall Street Journal, starting as a correspondent, then as the Energy and Industry Editor and culminating as Editor-in-Chief. In 2010 , she digitalized Vedomosti's content and was named Editor-in-Chief of Vedomosti online edition. Osetinskaya studied Economics at Moscow University.

M.Fatih Baltacı is the Chairman of Akfel Holding, which was established in 1995. Akfel Holding specializes in energy trading & investments and engineering. Akfel is the largest player in private natural gas sector in Turkey and SEE. Akfel teams have also carried out various EPC projects on a range of energy infrastructure projects in natural gas, and power supply in The Region. Fatih Baltacı is a graduate of Boğaziçi University, Istanbul with B.S. in mechanical engineering. He is Chairman of Board of Trustees of Turkish-Russian Cultural Foundation which strives to create better understanding between the two historical neighbors. Mr.Baltaci is also a Supervisory Board Member of EU based university.

Andrei Dubovskov has vast experience in telecommunications: having begun his career in 1993, he filled executive positions in Millicom International Cellular, LLC Regional Cellular Communication, CJSC 800 and a number of other companies in Moscow, Almaty, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities. From 2002 to 2004, he was CEO of the Tele2 Group in Nizhny Novgorod. In 2004, he came to MTS, taking up the post of Nizhny Novgorod Branch Director. In 2006-2007, he was Director of the macroregion MTS Ural and, in 2007, started working for CJSC UMS (MTS Ukraine) as Senior Deputy CEO. Since 2008, he has been at the helm of MTS Ukraine. Mr. Dubovskov is a Board Member of MTS, AFK Sistema and member of the Supervisory Board of MTS Ukraine. He is Chairman of the Management Board of MGTS and JSC Russian Telephone Company, Vice-Chairman of the Management Board of Mobile TeleSystems (MTS-Belarus). He is also a member of the Committee on Corporate Management under the Board of Directors of AFK Sistema and the Committee on Strategy under the Board of Directors of MTS. Andrei was born in 1966 and graduated in 1993 from the All-Russia S.A. Gerasimov State Institute of Cinematography as a Film Director.

Mikhail Piotrovskiy was born in Yerevan in 1944. He graduated with honours from the Faculty of Asian and African Studies of Leningrad State University in the Department of Arab Philology (1967) and served as an intern at the Cairo University. From 1967 to 1991, he worked at the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies and defended his candidate and doctoral theses. He became Deputy Director of the State Hermitage in 1991 and Director starting in July 1992. He has taken part in archaeological excavations in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Yemen. He is the author of more than 250 scientific works, including catalogues of Arabic manuscripts, publications of medieval records and ancient inscriptions, works on the spiritual and political history of Islam and Arab culture as well as the archaeology of Arabia. He is a Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an active member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and a member of the Presidential Councils of the Russian Federation for Culture and Art, and for Science and Education. He is a professor at St. Petersburg State University and chair of the Department of Museum Studies and Protection of Monuments as well as the Department of the Ancient East Countries and Dean of the Faculty of Asian and African Studies. He is a foreign member of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, a member of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan, President of the Union of Russian Museums, President of the World Club of St. Petersburg Residents, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the European University in St. Petersburg, a corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute, the editor-in-chief of The Christian East magazine, the chairman of the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Orthodox Palestinian Society, co-chairman of the Council on the Promotion and Support of Russian Cultural Heritage at the Federal Agency for the Affairs of the CIS, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), and an honorary citizen of St. Petersburg. He is a member of the Consultative Group of the Council of Europe on exhibition activities. He has been awarded the Order of Honour and Order ‘For Merit to the Fatherland’. In 1997, in honour of father and son – Boris and Mikhail Piotrovskiy – the International Astronomical Union named one of the small discovered planets ‘Piotrovskiy’.

In April 2012, Ivan Tavrin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of MegaFon. Previously, Mr. Tavrin was Deputy CEO and a member of the Management Board since January 2012 (with interests in MUZ-TV channel, Ю channel, Disney Channel). Ivan Tavrin has extensive experience in the Russian media industry and has been a pioneer in its development over the past 15 years. In 1997, he founded the advertising firm “Construct-Region” and under his management, it developed into the largest agency in the Russian regional advertising market. Over the past decade, Ivan has been closely involved in establishing a number of successful Russian media companies, including Regional Media Group, Media One Holding, Vyberi Radio Group and TV-3. Ivan Tavrin has been a member of the Management Board since 7 March 2012. He was First Deputy CEO of OJSC MegaFon until 20 April 2012 when he became the General Director and CEO of OJSC MegaFon. He graduated from Moscow State Institute for International Relations in 1998 with a diploma in law. Between August 2009 and January 2012, he was President of UTH Russia Limited, of which he currently controls 50% (the other 50% being controlled indirectly by Mr. Alisher Usmanov). He has previously been the President of CJSC TV Service and CJSC Media-1 Management, as well as a shareholder of Fairlie Holding & Finance Limited (the holding company for the NetByNet group of companies) from December 2009 to June 2011. Mr Tavrin is currently a director of MO-TV Holdings Limited, UTH Russia Limited, Media-One Holdings Limited and Kommersant Publishing House CJSC. Mr. Tavrin graduated from Moscow State Institute for International Relations.

Maria Chertok has been working with CAF Russia since 1997, since May 2005 as a Director. She has been involved in a number of exciting innovations in the Russian philanthropic sector, including development of community foundations model, corporate giving and private foundations. In 2009 Maria was named one of ten most influential philanthropy professionals in Russia by Russian Reporter magazine. Maria is a Board member of WINGS (World Initiative for Grant-makers Support), member of the Advisory Board of the Community Foundations Partnership, member of the Editorial Board of Alliance magazine and a co-organiser of the Olga Alexeeva Memorial Prize. She authored a number of articles and research materials on various aspects of philanthropy and civil society development in Russia and globally. Most recently Maria served as a guest editor of Alliance magazine issue on emerging market philanthropy and co-authored a report “Pathways to NGOs sustainability”. Before working with CAF Maria was a researcher at the Moscow office of the Ford Foundation. She graduated cum laude in sociology from the Moscow State University.

Member of the Board of Directors of EUSP Fund, which is currently one of the largest university endowment funds in Russian Federation. Graduated from the Department of Human Resource Management of St. Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance as well as Master of Arts and post-graduate degree program at EUSP. Served as a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Culture, Religion and World Affairs of Boston University and a Resident Scholar in Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian and East European Studies of Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DС. Worked as a Researcher at the Department of Sociology and Social Policy of the Budapest University of Economics and a Junior Fellow in the Collegium Budapest/Institute for Advanced Studies and as a Team Leader of the international research project on a comparative study of transnational migration processes. Expert on corporate, family and individual philanthropy, endowment-building, fundraising, migration processes, work ethics and corporate culture.

Maria Andreyevna Morozova has been heading the Elena & Gennady Timchenko Charitable Foundation from the day when it was created in December 2010. Since then, the Timchenko Foundation has become one of Russia’s leading private foundations implementing programs aimed at supporting active ageing, developing sports and culture, helping families and children. These strategic directions are designed to further comprehensive solutions of Russia’s social problems, with a special emphasis on its regions. The program portfolio of The Timchenko Foundation embraces over 100 projects, both all around Russia and abroad. Here are some of them: Society for All Ages National Conference, competitions like Active Generation, Cultural Mosaic of Small Towns and Villages, Dobryi Lyod [Good Ice], Right Family Course and others.As an active participant of expert panels and public forums that tackle topics matching the priorities of The Timchenko Foundation activities Maria Morozova has occupied the following positions: member of the Community Council with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of the Russian Federation (including Vice-Chairwoman of the Commission for Social Assistance and member of the Commission of Labor and Local Employment); head of «Starshye pokolenie» [Senior Citizen] section with the Russian Federation Government’s Community Council on Guardianship Issues in the Social Sphere; member of the Expert Board with the Agency of Strategic Initiatives; member of The Council of the Federation Committee on Social Innovation Development in Territorial Entities of the Russian Federation, and others. Ms. Morozova has been working in the non-commercial sector since 2006, completed with honors the MBA program at the California State University, graduated from the Russian Academy of Theater Arts (GITIS) in Moscow and received training at the CAF Foundation School.

Sergey Orlov is a Member of the Coordinating Council of All-Russian Public Organization Business Russia. He is also Chairman of Business Russia’s Committee for businesses’ social responsibilities, patronage of the arts and philanthropy. He is General Director and a member of the Board of Directors for RVM Capital, and head of the Board of Directors at Rosvagonmash. From 1993 until the present day, he has worked on the board of directors in large public companies, which are leaders in the spheres of finance, transport, engineering, construction and other industries within the Russian economy. He is a member of the Russian Independent Directors Association (IDA). He is included on the Board of Trustees for Financial Elite of Russia award. In 2006—2011 he worked as an advisor to the president of Trans Credit Bank, and was also Deputy Chairman on the bank’s board of directors. At the same time, he served on the board of Zheldorreforma, as well as on the boards of the largest subsidiary companies of the Russian Railways. Since 2003, he served in a working group to prepare industrial reforms for railway transportation for the Russian Ministry of Railways, and since 2005 was voluntary advisor to the president of the Russian Railways. In 1999—2006 he worked as a free-lance advisor and consulted for a range of Russian banks and companies on developing their businesses, as well as on individual projects linked to structuring businesses and working with problem assets. In 1992—1999 he worked at commercial banks in St Petersburg, where he in particular led the legal department as a deputy governor oversaw the work of the legal service, the department of problem assets, controlled project financing, business development and credit management. A patron and promoter of corporate and social responsibility at Business Russia, he conducts targeted social policies to provide charitable assistance and sponsored support to projects in the spheres of culture and education, on his own behalf and within the company. He was awarded the Person of the Year Prize, 2012.

Natalia Poppel graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute and received further education at the Business School of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Bilston Community College (UK) and the Diplomatic Academy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. She began her professional career at Norilsk Mining and Metallurgical Combine. She held senior positions at Alexander Bank, the non-profit organisations and funds – “World of Culture”, “Environmental consciousness”, “Orthodox Education”, “Culture and children”, among others at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, the Music College at the Tchaikovsky Moscow Conservatory and at the Tsaritsyno State Museum and Reserve. Ms. Poppel began working at Severstal in 2008, heading up the Corporate Social Responsibility sector in 2009 as well as the Corporate Brand sector in 2014. She oversees the system of charitable activities for assistance to the development of the regions in which the company is present: support for small and medium businesses, the prevention of child abandonment and homelessness, support for culture and education, the development of volunteerism and the release of non-financial reporting. The social responsibility activities of Severstal under Ms. Poppel’s leadership have received high praise from the professional community on numerous occasions. The company won the prestigious national competitions: “Corporate Charity Leaders” of the Donor Forum, Vedomosti and PWC, the “PEOPLE INVESTOR” of the Association of Russian Managers, and the “Russian Business Leaders” from the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs. As an effective senior executive and prominent expert in the social responsibility of business charity, Natalia represents the company on the Boards of Trustees of many cultural, educational and public institutions of Russia.