Programme

The global food market is evolving rapidly, and consumer preferences are migrating towards products with unique properties and guaranteed high quality – including the ability to check their properties and origin at the touch of a mobile screen. The pace of life continues to accelerate, information noise is increasing, and consumers are reacting more to resonant offers with their hearts rather than their minds. Consumer preferences in the global markets become polarized based on the reputation of certain countries. What guides today’s progressive consumer in choosing food products? How important is a country’s reputation for developing the agricultural sector? What positions does Russia occupy in the world food rating? How can Russian products be made more memorable and in higher demand?

Moderator
Anfisa Voronina, Editorial Director of Commercial Projects, Vedomosti

Anfisa Voronina

Editorial Director of Commercial Projects, Vedomosti

Education
Graduated from the Department of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Professional experience
2002–2014 worked in the Vedomosti newspaper editorial office; promoted to become an editor of the Consumer Market Department.
2014–2016 Deputy Chief Editor of RBC magazine, where she participated in the magazine re-launch.
In September 2016, she took on a leadership position in a new commercial edition of the Vedomosti Business Daily.

Panellists
Andrey Danilenko, Chairman, Committee on Agro-Industrial Policy, Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia)
Sergey Lebedev, Director for Government Relations, Alibaba Russia
Sergey Levin, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation
Mikhail Lyasko, General Director, Arla Foods
Sergey Mikhailov, General Director, Chairman of the Executive Board, Cherkizovo Group
Valery Schapov, President, Mars Russia

Andrey Danilenko

Chairman, Committee on Agro-Industrial Policy, Delovaya Rossiya (Business Russia)

Sergey Lebedev

Director for Government Relations, Alibaba Russia

Sergey Levin

Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation

Born: August 6, 1965 in St. Petersburg
Graduated from the Leningrad order of Lenin Polytechnic Institute in 1988 as with a degree in engineering physics, from North-West Academy of Public Administration in 2000 with a degree in lawer.
PhD in Sociology
1988-1996: engaged in scientific work.
1996-2003: substituted for positions in commercial organizations.
2003-2009: substituted for positions in the Federal Agency for State Reserves.
2009: General Director of JSC "United Grain Company" (CEO).
2012: Referent of the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation D.A. Medvedev.
2015: Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation
December 31, 2017: by the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation appointed State Secretary-Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation
Has a class rank "Actual State Counselor of the Russian Federation of the second class".
Awarded with the Certificate of Honor of the Government of the Russian Federation.

Sergey Mikhailov

General Director, Chairman of the Executive Board, Cherkizovo Group

Sergey Mikhailov is the Director General at Cherkizovo Group PJSC. Apart from general management, he oversees strategy and development. Under Mr. Mikhailov’s leadership in 2006 Chrekizovo group was Russia’s first agrocompany with a successful IPO on the London exchange and eventually became Russia’s largest producer of meat products. In 2001, Mr. Mikhailov became marketing manager at Cherkizovsky Myasopererabatyvayuschy Zavod, in 2002 became Deputy Director for Marketing and Sales, and in 2003 became Director General. In 1998 he had an internship at Goldman Sachs, and at Morgan Stаnley a year later. In 1998 he started a telecom company aTelo, Inc.
Mr. Mikhailov received an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University with a major in Finance in 2000.

Valery Schapov

President, Mars Russia

Valery joined Mars in 2002 as a Sales manager in Far East. He held several positions in Saint Petersburg and Moscow where he managed Petcare Sales department. In 2011 Valery moved to Vienna, where he was responsible for the business development in a number of European countries (Portugal, Spain, Greece, Czech Republic/Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and BBA countries cluster – Вaltics/Balkans/Adriatic). In October, 2014 Valery was appointed General Manager of Mars Petcare, Russia. As of 25th of May 2015 he is President of Mars LLC, Russia.Before joining Mars, Valery worked in a number of Russian and foreign companies and also organized his own business. Valery graduated from Military University of the Ministry of Defense in 1989 and received an MBA diploma from the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) in 2007.Valery was born in 1966, he is married and father of three children.

Front row participants
Irina Bakhtina, Vice President for Sustainable Business Development and Corporate Relations in North Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Africa, Unilever NAMET RUB
Andrey Slepnev, Chief Executive Officer, Russian Export Center

Irina Bakhtina

Vice President for Sustainable Business Development and Corporate Relations in North Africa, Middle East, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Africa, Unilever NAMET RUB

Graduate of the Far East State University, an accomplished corporate affairs professional with more than 20 years experience in both domestic and multinational companies, as well as local government agencies and mass media, including 12 years as senior manager in international companies (Philip Morris International, Unilever).
In 2010 Ms. Bakhtina became a coordinator of an expert group on Administrative Barriers Elimination and Technical Regulation at the Foreign Investment Advisory Council (FIAC), acting under the auspices of the Russian Prime Minister. In 2016 she became Chairman of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee at the Managers Association (AMR). Member of a number of industrial associations (Russian Association of Advertisers, Russian Dairy Union, Oil and Fat Producers Association, Union of Ice-Cream Producers), member of supervisory boards of Food Fund Rus Charitable Foundation (since 2013) and Naidi Semyu Charitable Fund (since 2017).
Head of Sustainable Development Academy at Unilvever, global capability building and training for Unilever Sustainable Business & Communications function (since 2015).
Jury member at Effie Russia, a programme promoting global sustainable growth goals (since 2018) and at Managing Change. Visionaries (2018). Author of Top Comm, the first all-Russian rating of communications directors and departments.
In 2017, Irina was ranked as a #1 corporate communications executive in Russia and also #1 corporate social responsibility executive in Russia, winner of EY’s Business Women in International Business (2016), recipient of the Media Manager Award in 2014 and 2009.

Andrey Slepnev

Chief Executive Officer, Russian Export Center

Born September 13, 1969 in Bor, Nizhny Novgorod Region.
2005–2007: Head of the Presidential Experts’ Directorate
2007–2009: Deputy Minister of Agriculture
2009–2011: Member of the Trade Panel (Minister) of the Eurasian Economic Commission
February 26 – July, 2016: Assistant to the Prime Minister
July 5, 2016: appointed Deputy Head of the Government’s Executive Office and Director of the Projects Department of the Government of the Russian Federation.