Programme

Electronic and cross-border commerce is proving to be a powerful new tool for the development of rail transit. In the first quarter alone, East–West shipments of packages by major online retailers rose by 40%. At the same time, building capacity for transporting container cargo does not require significant investment. This is not the case with freight aviation, a method which is quicker but also more capital-intensive. Along with the growth in electronic commerce, shipments by traditional industries are also on the rise, with auto components showing 20% growth and shipments of wood products expanding by a multiple of 31! Currently, rail infrastructure operators and their partners can service clients more quickly and cheaply than sea transport, with almost none of the queues clients experience with air transport. What is still lacking in the development of the Russian transit sector? What difficulties do clients face, and what conditions should be put in place to further increase freight traffic?

Moderator:
Joe Watt , Chairman of the Management Committee, Managing Partner, CIS, EY

Joe Watt

Chairman of the Management Committee, Managing Partner, CIS, EY

Joe has worked for EY for 25 years. During this time, he has worked in several different member firms in a variety of management and client-service roles. Joe has been the Managing Partner of Assurance in two different emerging market countries and has also led a risk management team. He has a great deal of experience auditing clients in the industrial, consumer and retail sectors in Australia, Indonesia and Russia. In addition to practice-management experience and regular client engagements, Joe has worked on capital markets and has extensive experience in initiating and running quality and risk management initiatives. Joe has a Business (Accounting) degree from the University of Ballarat, Australia, and is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia.

Panellists
Oleg Belozerov , President, Chairman of the Board, Russian Railways
Vladimir Bulavin , Head, Federal Customs Service
Maria Magdalena Grigore , Deputy Minister of Transport of Romania
Mark Zavadskiy , Business Development Director for Russia and CIS, Aliexpress; General Manager, Alibaba Russia
Alan Lushnikov , Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation
Luc Nadal , Chairman of the Management Board, GEFCO Group
Dmitry Strashnov , General Director, Russian Post
Michel Charouk , Vice President, Global Operations and Transformation, IBM Global Markets

Oleg Belozerov

President, Chairman of the Board, Russian Railways

Born in 1969. Graduated from St. Petersburg University of Economics and Finance in 1992. 1998–2000 OJSC Lenenergo, Deputy Commercial Director, Commercial Director. 2000–2001 Office of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District, Head of the Financial and Economic Department. 2001–2002 OJSC LOMO, Deputy Director, Management of Corporate Property. 2002–2004 OJSC Russian Fuel Company, Managing Director. 2004–2009 Federal Road Agency, Deputy Head, Head 2009–2015 Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, Deputy Minister, First Deputy Minister. August 2011 Assigned Class Rank of Active State Advisor of the Russian Federation, 1st Class. August 20, 2015 Appointed President of OJSC Russian Railways. Mr. Belozerov is the chairman of the International Union of Railways (UIC) and co-chairman of the Russia–France Business Cooperation Council. He has been recognized for his services by numerous state and industry awards.

Vladimir Bulavin

Head, Federal Customs Service

Born in Lipetsk Region, Russia on February 11, 1953. Graduated from Moscow Institute of Railroad Transport Engineers (1975), and the Higher School of the KGB of the USSR (1979). Starting from 1977, he was employed by state security bodies. Starting from 1979, he served in KGB Administration, Office of the Ministry of Security – Administration of the Federal Counterintelligence Service – Administration of the Federal Security Service (UMB-UFSK-UFSB of the RF) in Nizhny Novgorod Region. In 1992 – 2006 – the head of the UMB-UFSK-UFSB of the RF in Nizhny Novgorod Region. Worked as the Chair of the Council of FSS Bodies Heads in Volga Federal District (since 2001), the Deputy Director of the FSB of Russia - Head of the Administration of the National Anti-Terrorist Committee (since 2006), Senior Deputy Secretary of the RF Security Council (since 2008), a standing representative of the President in the Northwestern Federal District (since 2013). In 2016 he was appointed the Head of the FCS of Russia. Awarded the orders “For Merit to the Fatherland” of the III and the IV degree, “For War Services”, decorations “Honorary Officer of Counterintelligence Service”, “For Service in Counterintelligence” of the II degree, medals of the USSR and RF. Candidate of Legal Sciences, the distinguished officer of the security bodies of the RF. Married, has two children.

Mark Zavadskiy

Business Development Director for Russia and CIS, Aliexpress; General Manager, Alibaba Russia

Mark Zavadskiy brings to AliExpress an extensive communications background that includes in-depth knowledge of Russia-China relations. Zavadskiy leads both strategy development and implementation for the marketing and brand efforts of AliExpress across Russia. His responsibilities include strategic partnerships with Russian and Chinese companies, planning and implementation of trade and logistics concepts, business execution, and enhancement of AliExpress brand awareness in Russia. Prior to joining AliExpress, Zavadskiy founded his own strategic communications company, Asia To Go Limited, specializing in providing Russia-Asia intellectual, economic and cultural exchanges. His previous career as a journalist includes working as senior political correspondent for Ezhenedelny Zhurnal in Russia before moving to Hong Kong in 2004, where he opened the Hong Kong Bureau for the Russian Information Agency Novosti. In 2008, he became Chief Asia Correspondent for the Russian Business Weekly Expert.

Alan Lushnikov

Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation

Alan Lushnikov – Deputy Minister of Transport of Russian Federation, active state councilor, 3rd class. Born August 10, 1976 in St. Petersburg. In 1998 graduated from Saint Petersburg State University majoring in Law. 1997–2001 – Lead Specialist at Sovetnik, St. Petersburg 2001–2006 – Legal Councilor at Kineks-Holding, Link-Oil SPB, Chief Legal Councilor at Transoil. 2006–2010 – Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Railway Transport 2010–2010 – Assistant to the Minister of Transport of Russian Federation 2012–2017 – Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation Arkady Dvorkovich Since February 17, 2017 – Deputy Minister of Transport of Russian Federation Awarded: honorary certificate from the Minister of Transport of Russian Federation (2007), Honorary Railway Worker (2012), certificate from the Government of Russian Federation (2016).

Luc Nadal

Chairman of the Management Board, GEFCO Group

Luc Nadal graduated from Ecole Polytechnique (X82). He began his career as a consultant with Arthur Andersen & Cie in 1985, before joining MENSIA Conseil, specialised in strategy, management and organization consulting, in 1988. He worked as a senior consultant, then manager, and later became a partner in charge of the infrastructure and transport sector. Luc Nadal joined the SNCF in 2005 as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CNC, which he turned around and transformed into Naviland Cargo. In 2007, he joined the Transport and Logistics branch of the SNCF and was appointed Deputy Operations Director of SNCF Freight. In 2008, the SNCF took over Geodis. Luc Nadal was appointed Deputy Managing Director of the SNCF Geodis branch in charge of the rail transport of goods and Director of Fret SNCF. He joined GEFCO as Freight Transport and Logistics Director in October 2010 and in July 2012, he took up the position of Chief Executive Officer of the GEFCO Group. Since December 2012, Luc Nadal was appointed Chairman of the GEFCO Management Board by the Supervisory Board.

Dmitry Strashnov

General Director, Russian Post

In 1991 graduated from Bauman State Technical University (specialization “New Materials and Technologies”). In 1999 graduated from INSEAD business school, France (EMBA).About 20 years Mr. Strashnov held leading positions in various European companies working in the sectors of consumer goods and telecom services - Electrolux A.B., Philips Consumer Electronics Export B.V.In 2009 - 2013 - President and CEO of Tele2 Russia, Executive Vice-President Tele2 A.B.Since April 2013 holds a position of CEO, Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Russian Post”.

Michel Charouk

Vice President, Global Operations and Transformation, IBM Global Markets

Michel began his IBM career in 1976 as financial analyst and since then has held numerous leadership roles across Growth Markets, Europe, United States and Africa. Most recently, he was based in New York leading IBM’s Sales and Distribution Operations globally. Previously, he was leading IBM Operations for Growth Markets, IBM’s Geographic Expansion globally and he has also experience as General Manager for IBM in Turkey. Prior to that, Michel held a variety of executive, managerial and professional roles within IBM Internal Audit, Customer Fulfillment, Treasury, Finance and Planning Organizations, both in Europe and the United States. Michel graduated from the American University of Beirut in 1976 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He is married with two children who attend college in the USA. He and his are currently based in New York. Michel holds dual nationality (French + Lebanese) and is fluent in English, French and Arabic.