Business programme

In spite of the current global crises caused by the pandemic, most developed countries are looking at infrastructure projects as a way of kick-starting their economies. This is also the case in Russia, which is not only developing infrastructure to follow international trends, but to pursue its national goals and complete national projects. In order to provide a further impetus to infrastructure projects, the government is offering new forms of financial support, such as infrastructure loans to the regions. At the same time, there has clearly been an enormous emphasis on attracting private investment. The success of this endeavour depends greatly on what is being done by specific teams in the regions, and whether they are in a position to offer attractive projects to investors. International trends indicate that around half of all financing organizations have begun to look at investment projects not only in terms of likely return, but also in terms of quality. This may encompass how a project is structured, what social impact it may have, its approach to environmental factors, and the extent to which modern technologies are used in construction. Therefore, in order to secure long-term investments in infrastructure, it is becoming essential for project initiators, government bodies, and financing organizations to have a common approach to measuring the quality of a project. What requirements must a high-quality infrastructure project meet? What international practices could be adopted? What needs to be done to develop effective approaches to assessing projects, without creating additional barriers for initiators? What examples of best practices being employed in high-quality infrastructure projects exist in Russia?

Moderator
Pavel Seleznev, General Director, Public-Private Partnership Development Center

Pavel Seleznev

General Director, Public-Private Partnership Development Center

PhD in Economics.
1. Education. In 2005, graduated from Moscow State Institute of International Relations. In 2010, PhD on developing public-private partnership in Russia.
2. Career. 2005-2007 – senior specialist, VTB Bank. 2007-2009 – Deputy CEO; Member, Management Board, VTB Project Management. 2008-2010 – Board Member, Energocomplex. 2009 – Cofounder, Chairman, Management Board, National Center for Developing Public Private Partnership, an autonomous non-profit organization.
3. Public Activity. Chairman, Committee for Public Private Partnership, Chamber of Trade and Industry. Member, General Council, Delovaya Rossiya. Member, Expert Council, Agency for Strategic Initiatives. Member, Supervisory Council, Federal Center for Project Financing. Member, Working Group for Developing Transportation Related Infrastructure Projects, Presidential Economic Council. Member, Presidium, Council for Public Private Partnership Development, Military Industrial Commission under the Government of the Russian Federation. Member, Coordination Council for Public Private Partnership under the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. Member, Coordination Council for Public Private Partnership in Health Care under the Ministry of Health Care of the Russian Federation.

Panellists
H.E. Saleh bin Majid Al-Khulaifi, Assistant Undersecretary for Commerce Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the State of Qatar
Francois Bergere, Executive Director, Long Term Infrastructure Investors Association (LTIIA) (online)
Denis Ilyin, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Eurasian Development Bank
Natalya Komarova, Governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area–Yugra
Oleg Pankratov, Chief Executive Officer, VTB Infrastructure Holding
Ilya Torosov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation
Roberto Cialone, Managing Director, Russia & East Europe, AECOM (online)
Svetlana Yachevskaya, Deputy Chairman, Member of the Board, VEB.RF

H.E. Saleh bin Majid Al-Khulaifi

Assistant Undersecretary for Commerce Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the State of Qatar

Mr. Saleh bin Majed Al Khulaifi is the Assistant Undersecretary for Commerce Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Prior to that, Mr. Al-Khulaifi held many leadership and administrative positions, including the Executive Director of Business Localization, Manager of Business Development at Qatar Development Bank, where he managed many initiatives, including the Islamization Initiative, the Waste Management National Program, and the Industrial Group. He was also the General Manager of the Bedaya Center for Entrepreneurship and Career Development. He is also a member of several committees and boards of directors. Mr Al Khulaifi is a PhD candidate in Business Administration at the University of Warwick, UK. He holds an MSc in Technology Entrepreneurship from University College London, UK, and a bachelor's degree in Entrepreneurship from Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar.

Francois Bergere

Executive Director, Long Term Infrastructure Investors Association (LTIIA)

François BERGERE, joined the Long-Term Infrastructure Investors Association as Executive Director in September 2018. He has a long and diversified professional experience in the fields of public management, project and infrastructure finance, having worked as a senior auditor at the French supreme audit institution, a manager of multinational Equity Investment funds in infrastructure; and in the French ministry of Finance to set-up and manage the PPP task force ( from 2005 to 2014), before joining the World Bank from 2014 as Program Manager for PPIAF (Public-Private Investment Advisory facility) , a trust-fund aimed at creating an investment-enabling environment for private sector participation in infrastructure.
Founded in 2014, LTIIA gathers over 40 institutional investors active globally and aims to proactively engage with public stakeholders & regulators in public advocacy for the investing community, develop financial performance benchmarks and share best ESG & Sustainable development practices so as to promote quality infrastructure as a full-fledged asset class.

Denis Ilyin

Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Eurasian Development Bank

Natalya Komarova

Governor of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area–Yugra

Natalia Komarova was born on the 21st of October 1955 in Pskov Region, she is married and has two children. In 1978 she graduated from Kommunarsk Institute of Mining and Smelting, the faculty of Engineering and Economics, majoring in “Economics and organization of construction” with awarding of qualification Engineer-economist. She began to work at the Kommunarsk Metallurgical Factory as a labor engineer of the laboratory of industrial engineering in 1978. Then she worked as an economist of the planned-economic CCB department. In 1980 Natalia moved to Novy Urengoi of Tyumen Region, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. There she began to work in the municipal executive committee as a senior inspector. In 1988 Natalia became the chairwoman of the city planning commission. Then she worked as the deputy chairwoman of the municipal executive committee, the deputy of the City Council. In 1992 she became the first deputy of the Head of Administration in Novy Urengoi. In 1994 Natalia was designated as the Head of the city Administration. That year she was elected as a deputy of the State Duma of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug and as a deputy of the NoviyUrengoy Municipal Committee. On the 16thof March 1997 Natalia Komarova continued working as the Head of the municipal formation of NoviyUrengoy up to October 2000 according to the elections results. From October 2000 to December 2001 Natalia worked as a deputy of the Governor of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, leading the Economic Committee of the Okrug. At the same time Natalia lectures at the University: she is an associate professor of the Social Management of the Yamal Oil and Gas Institute (branch) of the Tyumen State Oil and Gas University (since 1999). In December 2001 Natalia was elected as a Deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation inYamalo-Nenets Autonomous Electoral Okrug. From 2004 to 2007 she is the Head of the Natural Resources and Nature Management Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. In December 2007 Natalia was elected as the deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Electoral Okrug for the third time. In the State Duma of the fifth assembling she continued to be the Head the Natural Resources and Nature Management Committee. On the 8thof February 2010 the President of Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev submitted a proposal to the deputies of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug Duma a candidature of Natalia Komarova as the Governor of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug –Ugra. At the unscheduled meeting on the 15thof February the deputies in a unanimous vote voice supported her candidature.On the 1stof March Natalia entered the office of the Governor of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug –Ugra.

Oleg Pankratov

Chief Executive Officer, VTB Infrastructure Holding

20 years of international and Russian experience in direct infrastructure investments, public-private partnership, project and structured financing in Russia and abroad.
Oleg Pankratov worked as a managing director with Merrill Lynch, head of infrastructure financing department for Europe with ABN AMRO, vice-president of JPMorgan. He performed financial consulting for transactions in Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Spain and in other countries.
Oleg Pankratov has been with VTB Group since 2007, he put together the team of VTB Infrastructure Holding, implemented over 20 infrastructure financing projects, including Pulkovo Airport modernization, Western High Speed Diameter construction, construction of M 11 Sections 7 and 8.

Oleg Pankratov is a member of the board of directors of Pulkovo Airport, the chairman of the board of directors of Northern Capital Highway consortium and the chairman of the board of directors of Western High Speed Diameter.
Oleg Pankratov graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics (MSU), got his MBA at IMD Business School, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Awarded with the Order of Friendship.
In 2009, Oleg Pankratov made the top-ten list of the most influential banking experts for infrastructure, according to Infrastructure Journal.

Ilya Torosov

Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation

Born on 14 October 1982 in Moscow.
In 2004, graduated from the State University of Management.
2005–2006 Chief Economist, OAO Alfabank.
2006–2008 Chief Specialist, Senior Manager of Corporate Banking Development group in Central region of the Russian Federation, JSC Raiffeisenbank.
2008–2015 Head of the Department for High Profile and Corporate Customer Relations, MDM Bank.
2015–2017 Head of Corporate Customer Service and Financing Directorate, PJSC TransKapitalBank (TKB Bank).
2017–2018 Executive Director/ Executive Partner, UDR group of companies.
From January 2018 to March 2018 Advisor/Acting Deputy Chair of the Board, TROIKA-D BANK.
From 12 March 2018 Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
Candidate of economic sciences.

Roberto Cialone

Managing Director, Russia & East Europe, AECOM

Roberto Cialone has over 25 years of experience in Construction Management, Commercial Management, Procurement and Cost Management on critical, high-profile, high-CAPEX, technically complex international commercial and industrial projects, including high-rise office buildings, and mixed used developments. Roberto is an Italian national, with extensive working experiences in Russia, as well as in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy and France. Roberto is distinguished by a holistic problem-solving approach and outstanding organizational skills. He is a master of interpersonal communications. An influencer, with strong persuading skills refined in negotiations with his clients and project teams, as well as consultants, suppliers, contractors, and regulatory bodies, he aims to achieve optimal supply and delivery solutions within budgetary, safety, quality, and time constraints. He has led many of AECOM’s largest and the most complex projects and is a well-known figure in the construction project management industry in Russia.

Svetlana Yachevskaya

Deputy Chairman, Member of the Board, VEB.RF

She was born on April 10, 1977 in Moscow.
In 2001 she graduated with honors from the International Independent Ecological-Political University with a degree in Jurisprudence.
In 2004 she graduated from the Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation with a degree in Financial Management.
Candidate of Juridical Sciences. From 2009 to 2012 she was the Associate Professor of the Department of Legal Support of Management Activities of the Moscow Institute of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.
From 1999 to 2003 she was a member of the Bar Association "Moscow Law Center", she carried out advocacy.
From 2003 to 2004 she was the Head of Legal Support Section of the Defence and Law Enforcement Ministries and Agencies Military Property Department in the Ministry of Property Relations of the Russian Federation.
From 2004 to 2008 in the Federal Agency for Federal Property Management she held the following positions: Deputy Head of Defence and Law Enforcement and Judicial Agencies Property Division, Head of Judicial Agencies Section.
From 2008 to 2017 she headed the Legal Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation.
Since May 2017 she has been in a post as Vnesheconombank’s Deputy Chairman – Member of the Management Board.
Honors:
Certificate of Acknowledgement by the Russian Government in recognition of achievements in economic and finance activities and long-standing dedicated work (2010);
Certificate of Acknowledgement by the Russian President for activities related to fulfilling the tasks and goals set by the Russian President and aimed at enhancing the efficiency of public and municipal services (2011);
Certificate of Acknowledgement by the Russian Minister of Finance in recognition of achievements in finance and economy and long-standing impeccable work (2011);
Second-class medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherland for work achievements and long-standing dedicated work (2011).
Civil service class rank:
Full State Counsellor of the Russian Federation, 2nd Class.

Front row participants
Anton Nikitin, Director of Infrastructure Bonds, DOM.RF
Mikhail Sukhov, General Director, Analytical Credit Rating Agency
Vladimir Shchekin, Co-Founder, Managing Partner, Rodina Group

Anton Nikitin

Director of Infrastructure Bonds, DOM.RF

Mikhail Sukhov

General Director, Analytical Credit Rating Agency

Mikhail was appointed as the ACRA CEO in April 2020. In 2016–2018, he was Deputy President and Chairman of VTB Bank’s management board. Mikhail Sukhov worked at the Central Bank of the Russian Federation from 1993 through 2016, where he held a number of positions, including four years as Deputy Governor. Mikhail is a professor of the Banking Institution of Russia’s Higher School of Economics. He graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University, holds a PhD in Economic Sciences, and is an Honored Economist of the Russian Federation.

Vladimir Shchekin

Co-Founder, Managing Partner, Rodina Group