VII INTERNATIONAL BANKING FORUM

Namig Aliyev was born in 1977 in Baku. He is a graduate of Baku State University. During his student years, he worked on a number of periodical publications. In 1999-2000 he worked in the Republican Scientific and Technical Library and in 2001-2003 in the Main Department of Cultural Education of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan as a leading specialist. As of 2004, he worked as a correspondent, leading correspondent, assistant editor, editor at the Free Azerbaijan Broadcasting Company "Azad Azərbaycan".

He started working in the Communication Department of the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan in May 2010. Since July 2011, he has been the Head of the Public Relations Division of aforementioned department. He is the presenter of "Economic News" program  at Azerbaijan Television and Radio Broadcasting Closed Joint-Stock Company (AZTV).

Mr. Osmanov has about 20 years of experience in information technologies, implementing a number of digital transformation initiatives in banking sector. During his professional career, Mr. Osmanov focused on both adoption of information and payment systems, covering ever-changing business needs and business process optimization to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of business process management. Nowadays, his main strategic focus is to establish cashless economy and accelerate the creation of a digital ecosystem in Azerbaijan.

Mr. Osmanov holds MSc on information systems and management; and certified as ITSM expert, practitioner in project management and ISO/IEC 27001 information security standard implementer.

Born on April 7, 1975, in Imishli region of Azerbaijan Republic.

Education:

In 1992 he was admitted to the Azerbaijan State Economic University with the largest score and graduated from high school in 1997 and received his second higher education in the Journalism profession of the Georgian Institute of Public Relations in 2004. In 2009, he defended his PhD in economics and in 2017 he defended his doctorate in economics.

Prof. Dr. Vusal Gasimli was awarded a certificate of completion for the "Leading Economic Growth" Program, [February-May/2021], John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Executive Education.

In 2022-2023 Vusal Gasimli completed the University of Oxford's Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) in Strategy and Innovation.

In 2013 Vusal Gasimli was given the title of associate professor.

V.Gasimli was engaged in pedagogical activity in the UNEC Special Talented Group and MBA program in 2010-2014.

V.Gasimli read public lectures at Washington University, California University, Cairo University, Warsaw University, Seoul Hanyany and Hankuk University, and Rio de Janeiro University.

Vusal Gasimli got the award of Astana Economic Forum for outstanding research achievements in 2012.

Worked as a guest scientist at Korea International Economic Policy Institute in 2013.

He has 10 books and about 500 scientific and publicist articles in Azerbaijani, Russian, Korean and English.

Vusal Gasimli is professor at the Azerbaijan Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan since 2021.

Labor Activity:

During the 12.05.2000-06.12.2003, the economic consultant in Express newspaper edition,

15.02.2005-19.11.2005, Economic Reviewer at ANS-PRESS Publishing House LLC,

19.11.2005-30.04.2007, President of ANS-PRESS Publishing House LLC,

09.02.2009-11.05.2011, Deputy of head of the Department at Azerbaijan-Public-Political University,

In 2007-2011, he worked on projects implemented by the European Union, the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and several international organizations.

In 2011-2016, he worked as Head of the Department for Economic Analysis and Globalization of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

In 2015, he represented Azerbaijan at the T20 platform of brain centers of the G20.

From 10.05.2016 to present he is the executive director of theCenter for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

He was awarded the Progress Medal in 2018.

Vusal Gasimli was appointed Focal Point of UNESCAP in 2021.

Married, has three children.

Guliev Farid Fuad was born in Baku in 1986. He is an economist. He started his professional career in 2007 in the finance industry and from 2012 he held a position in board of directors of different financial organizations.

Since February 2018 he is appointed to the post of Head director of “Azəricard” LLC.

After graduating from the secondary school he was admitted to the department of “Accounting” at Azerbaijan State Economic University and completed the full course on the speciality of “Economist” in 1981. Zakir Nuriyev started his labour activity as Leading Accountant at the “Control and Inspection” department of the Ministry of Communications, Azerbaijan Republic in 1981.

 Zakir Nuriyev did his military service during 1981-1983. He worked in the capacity of Accountant – Inspector, Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Accountant at the “Control and Inspection” department of the Ministry of Communications, Azerbaijan Republic from July, 1983 until January, 1989 after having served in the military.

 He was appointed to the post of Manager of the “Control and Accounting” division at “Regional Communication” Production Association of the Ministry of Communications, Azerbaijan Republic in 1989. Zakir Nuriyev worked in the capacity of Chairman of the Management Board at “Rabitabank” Joint-Stock Commercial Bank during 1993-1998 and has been acting as Chairman of the Supervisory Board at “Rabitabank” Open Joint-Stock Company since 1998 up to date. He was elected President of the Azerbaijan Banks Association in 1996 and worked in that capacity until 2006. He has been member of the Presidium at Azerbaijan Banks Association from 2006 till 2015. He was re-elected President of Azerbaijan Banks Association in 2015.

After graduating from the Mechanical Engineering Department at Istanbul’s Bogazici University, the new Mastercard Turkiye and Azerbaijan General Manager Avshar Gurdal, received an MBA degree from the Koc University. He has been working at Mastercard since 2015.

Gurdal took the first steps of his career at the Unilever company and further worked at the PRG and Value Partners companies until his joining Mastercard Advisors in 2015. In 2016, Gurdal was appointed the Customer Relations Director at the company and was promoted to the Mastercard Turkey Vice-President role in 2019. With his new position, Gurdal is now responsible for conducting market management policies of Mastercard in Turkiye and Azerbaijan.

Emil Zeynalov, started his career at the Credit Europe Bank in Russia. His career also extended to various positions at local commercial banks in Azerbaijan. Emil Zeynalov has been with Mastercard for more than 6 years, where he played a pivotal role in growing the business and managing relationships in the country.

Oguz started is business development director of Mastercard Data and Services in Turkey and Azerbaijan. He started his career at Peppers and Rogers Group in 2014 and he has worked in several industries like e-commerce, telecom, automotive, retail, and financial institutions across different countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Belgium, Saudi Arabia and Oman. In 2017 he joined Mastercard Advisors and delivered several projects in Turkey and Azerbaijan. Since 2019, he took business development role in Mastercard Advisors, and he is covering Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Gökhan Pembeci started his journey at Accenture, working as a strategy consultant prior to his banking experience. He worked for 10 years in one of the largest banks in Turkey, where he was responsible for payments, consumer finance and lastly SVP of Retail Banking and Head of Affluent Banking before joining Mastercard in 2020. He is a Principal in Advisors and responsible for several accounts, focusing mainly on the Azerbaijan market. Gokhan is also the EEMEA (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) Region Lead for Mastercard Acceptance Practice.

Mithat Perköz has been working for Mastercard in various roles since 2016 and he leads Mastercard’s Digital Payments related products and solutions for Turkey and CIS countries.

Mithat holds more than 14 years of experience in the payment and telecommunication industries with special focus on new product development & management, new business development and account management. Prior to joining Mastercard, he held various management roles within the payment and telecommunication industries.

Mithat holds a BS degree in Electronic Engineering and MBA Degree in Business Administration from Boğaziçi University.

On a personal front, Mithat loves spending quality family time with his wife and daughter. He loves travelling with his family (41+ countries) and also interested in classical music and history.

Teymur Aghakishiyev is a Deputy Chief Executive Officer at “Expressbank”. He has 16 years of experience in banking sector and has enjoyed many executive positions throughout his career in product development and management, product sales, strategy, digital payments, payments and cards infrastructure, treasury, settlements and cash management.

He loves to dig into customer problems and solve them with modern technology and puts the customer at the center of all that he do.

Teymur Aghakishiyev holds MBA degree in Banking from Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation.

He is a professional trainer in banking.

The Sales Manager at GRG Banking, is responsible for the Eastern European region. She has been a proud member of the GRGBanking family since 2018, dedicated to promoting GRGBanking's cutting-edge products and transformative solutions for bank branches across a diverse range of countries : Azerbaijan, Georgia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Moldova, Ukraine, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and other Eastern European nations.

Graduated from Anhui University’s International Economy and Trade at the faculty of Economic in 2010. Starting the career in GRG as a sale assistant, and raised to Account Manager in 2020 and with honored to move forward to the sale manager in 2022. She continues her duty and responsible for exploring the banking solutions for various customers, managing and developing new opportunities, handling customer relations.

The key point of the keynote presentation revolves around the overarching theme of "INNOVATION FOR A BETTER LIVING." In particular, she will delve into GRGBanking's pioneering efforts in exploring the Next Generation Bank Branch and how the products and solutions empower banks to embrace transformation and innovation. This strategic approach enhances operational efficiency and elevates customer satisfaction, positioning our clients for success in the dynamic banking landscape.

Graduated from Istanbul University's Department of International Relations at the Faculty of Political Sciences in 2012 and has a decade of finance experience.

Beginning his career as an Assistant Inspector at QNB Finansbank in 2013, he continued his career as a Senior Inspector in the Inspection Board until 2019, and in March of the same year, he continued to serve as an Experienced Specialist Process Engineer in the Business Development and Strategy Office. In 2020, he joined UPT Payment Services and Electronic Money Inc., and served as the Product Owner responsible for the development of UPTION mobile application in the Product Development and Market Research Unit.

As of December 2021, Can Gürpınar was appointed as UPT's Director of Digital Channel Management. He continues his duty as responsible for managing and developing all of UPT's digital assets, marketing, handling customer relations and campaign management, and managing product and portfolio for card products.

From 2011 work at JLLC "SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES", oversaw issues of project management. Currently holds the position of Executive Director and leads promotion and consulting of innovative products and services of the company worldwide. Being lead and product owner in launching Digital Bank, Trading Platform, Embedded banking Services

Born in 1976 in Ankara. His grandfather is from Salyan Azerbaijan and he is very proud of his Azerbaijan roots. He graduated from T.E.D. Ankara College in 1994 and from Gazi University, Faculty of Economics, Department of Economics in 1999. He started his career at Şekerbank T.A.Ş. Board of Audit in 2000. Until 2010, he worked as Assistant Auditor, Authorized Assistant Auditor and Auditor respectively. During his tenure at the Board of Audit, he took part in many of the Bank's digital transformation projects both as a team member and team leader, and also led the Bank's Information Systems Audit team between 2006 and 2008.

Between 2010 and 2012, he worked at Şekerbank Software and Project Management Directorate with the title of Business Analyst Manager. In 2012, he started his career at Şeker Bilişim San. A.Ş. as Business Architecture Manager. Between 2015 and 2018, he worked as Business Architecture and Product Management Manager at Cybersoft. During his tenure at Cybersoft, he led the software transformation processes of an Azerbaijan-based bank.

In 2019, he participated in the reorganization of Türk Ticaret Bankası A.Ş. as the Head of the Audit Board and was promoted to the position of Assistant General Manager at the same Bank in 2021.

Since January 2022, he has been serving as a Board Member and General Manager at Yaz Bilişim Sistemleri ve Ticaret A.Ş., which a subsidiary of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund of Türkiye.

 As a Director of Financial Services at N-iX Software Development company, Natalie Maslak works with Banking, Capital Markets and Insurance clients on maximising their growth opportunities through digital transformation, fixing critical business challenges with bespoke engineering and system integration solutions. She is a strategic facilitator and proven leader of the modernization for financial services industry. She has spent over 15 years’ driving client and partner strategies in top tier financial technology companies and banks.

Over 15 years of management experience on transformation programs, operational efficiency, digitalization, lean methodology and process management.

He was born in 1982 in Switzerland. He graduated from Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration in 2004.

Between 2005 and 2017, he worked as Auditor, Lean Transformation Vice President and Process Management & Business Development Vice President respectively at Akbank T.A.Ş. He led  the bank's digital transformation program, lean transformation projects and paperless bank program.

He joined  Yapı ve Kredi Bankası A.Ş as Process and Program Management Director in 2017. Currently he holds the position of Executive Vice President at Process Management at Yapı Kredi Teknoloji. He has recently been leading transformation programs in subsidiaries in Azerbaijan, Germany and Netherlands besides the transformation program at the bank.

An expert in investment citizenship and residence permit programs with more than 10 years of consulting experience.

Since 2013, she has been developing Apex Capital Partners, participating in professional industry events, conducting training sessions and webinars for the company’s partners and clients (online and offline), including events for different regions of the Russian Federation. For the last 15 years, she has held senior positions in companies that work exclusively with HNWIs and UHNWIs. Including the English concierge club Quintessentially and the No. 1 concierge service in the Russian Federation, Prime Concept.

Mr. Ramil Mahmudov is a Chief of the National payment system development division at Central Bank of Azerbaijan Republic. He is responsible for development of cashless payments in Azerbaijan and for regulating its activities in accordance with the legislation. He is an experienced professional in payment systems, electronic banking, mobile banking, card business, e-money, e-payments and retail banking. As an co-author of several regulations and recommendations for banks and other stakeholders, he also familiar with regulations, recommendations and experience of ECB, EU, CIS, BIS about payments systems ecosystem and payment instruments and also with risk management, fraud management, chargeback procedures of Visa and Master Card.

Mr. Mahmudov holds Master’s degree in Banking and Finance from Luxembourg School of Finance, University of Luxembourg and Master’s degree in Finance from Azerbaijan State Economic University. He received Certificate on “Management Development Program” from Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy in 2014 and Executive education Certificate from New York University Stern School of Business in 2015. He received a numerous training certificates in the field of cashless payments and management in Europe and Asia.

Doctorate of the Economic Reforms Research Institute under the the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rustamov Tamerlan has worked in the field of development and control of payment systems at the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Financial Market Supervisory Authority in different years.

Currently, he is Deputy Director of Payment Systems Department of Bank of Baku OJSC. He is also the head of the Expert Group on Payment Systems and Digital Banking at the Azerbaijan Banks Association, and the project manager at the Azerbaijan Fintex Association.

During these years of career, he was closely involved in the formation of the digital payment ecosystem in the country, the creation of a regulatory legal framework in this area, the application of innovative payment tools and technologies.

He is the co-author of the "Digital Payments and Electronic Banking Services" textbook, published for the first time in the field of digital payments in the country. He is the author of more than 10 scientific articles and many publicist articles in the field of digital transformation and digital payments.

Zeynep Yasemin Tekşen Altaş was born in Denmark in 1980 and graduated from Bilkent  University Computer and Informatics Engineering Department in 2002. Altaş received a master's  degree in International Finance and Participation Banking from Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim  University in 2019 and continues her Ph.D. studies in Business Administration at Gebze Technical  University. After working in different business units of Kuveyt Türk Information Technologies  Group for more than 17 years, Altaş has served as the IT-Governance and R&D Manager since  2018. On October 1, 2022, she was appointed Deputy General Manager of Digital Banking and  Payment Systems in Architecht's new organization.

Legal Department, Financial Markets Legal Support Division, Senior legal counsel, Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan

Eldar Jabrayilov is a Director of Project & Portfolio Management Department at “United Payment”.

He has global experience and expertise in various aspects of the banking and finance industry, including payments systems, online banking, e-commerce, project management and business development.

During his career, he implemented significant projects for development of the cashless payments.

Eldar Jabrayilov holds Master degree in International Business Administration from Dokuz Eylul University of Turkiye. Additionally, he has experience as an academic lecturer and business consultant.

15 years of sales experience of Digital Banking Digital Security and Digital Payment Solutions. Cashless and Contactless payments Ambassador

Of over 18 years of experience in information technology, he has spent 15 years at Creatio, advancing from a technical support specialist to a sales director. He is an expert in customer support for large-scale projects focused on implementating products for workflow automation.

An experienced professional in AML (anti-money laundering) and Fraud Monitoring sector. Extensive knowledge and experience in Analytics Solutions, watch list filtering, customer onboarding, risk assessment, transaction monitoring, KYC and due diligence, respectively. Have been actively involved in implementation of AML and fraud monitoring solutions and has been giving consultancy to Tier-1 large banks in Turkey and Azerbaijan.

Born in 1985, married with a daughter is the Head of Growth and Analytics Solutions in DVA Bilişim ve Yazılım A.S since 2012.

Bilge Köroğlu earned her Bachelor's Degree from the Computer Engineering Department at İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University in 2010, where she laid the foundation for her technical competencies. Subsequently, she pursued her Master of Science Degree within the same department, specializing in information retrieval using machine learning techniques, with a particular focus on their practical applications in search engines. Upon joining Yapi Kredi Bank, Bilge transitioned to a role in software development, where she spearheaded projects in the finance sector, showcasing her adeptness in implementing AI and ML algorithms and frameworks. She led and mentored diverse teams, overseeing the successful application of advanced algorithms and techniques to financial data, resulting in comprehensive software solutions effectively integrating cutting-edge technologies to advance the bank's strategic objectives. Over the past 11 years, Bilge has actively contributed to numerous national and EU projects, further elevating her technical and managerial proficiencies. Today, she holds a pivotal role as the head of the Applied Data Science team within the Applied AI and R&D Directorate at Yapi Kredi Bank, Turkey, where she continues to apply her extensive skill set to drive innovation and excellence in the financial industry.

For the period of 2006 – 2013 he has been working as Senior IT Auditor and Head IT Audit division at Central Bank of Azerbaijan Republic. From 2013 to 2017 he worked for Group of Companies as Head of Management Assurance and Director of Information Security divisions. From 2017 to 2021 Ilgar held CIO position for Port of Baku. Now he is founder and CEO of BISA LLC (Business Information Security Assurance). Currently he is Deputy Chair of ABA IT and Information Security Committee. He supervised and implemented number of audits and consulting projects for Central and Commercial Banks, telecommunication, energy, and manufacturing companies. Ilgar has wide experience on Digital transformation, information security design and implementation, internal control system and cyber-security improvement, operational risk management and assessment. He is member of International ISACA association since 2007. Member of PECB as international certified trainer since 2018.

Javidan Afandiyev was born in 1990, in Qax, Azerbaijan. He began his education at Baku State University's Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Cybernetics, eventually obtaining a bachelor's degree. His career has progressed as follows:

• In August 2015, he started working in the Information Security Department at MilliKart LLC in a junior specialist position.

• From March 2017 to May 2019, he worked as a leading specialist in the Information Security Department at AzeriCard LLC Service Center.

• From June 2019 to May 2021, he served as the Chief Specialist in the Digital Fraud Management team at PASHA Bank OJSC.

• From June 2021 to December 2022, he held a leadership position in the Digital Fraud Management Department at Unibank KB OJSC.

• Since January 2023, he has been working as the team leader in the fight against Digital Fraud at ABB OJSC.

Mr. Kokcen is a Business Development Director of Cyber and Intelligence products at Mastercard in Türkiye and Azerbaijan with a proven track record in cybersecurity and digital transformation. He holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Istanbul Technical University.

Mr. Kokcen began his career as a revenue management executive for B2B segments at a leading mobile network operator in Türkiye. He then went on to work at the biggest telecommunication and technology company in Türkiye, where he held various roles in IoT, Smart City, Cloud, and Cybersecurity portfolio management. In this role, he led major digital transformation projects with key account customers in Türkiye and globally, including financial institutions, retailers, energy companies, technology companies, and government agencies.

Mr. Kokcen, a dedicated cybersecurity advocate in Türkiye and Azerbaijan, leverages his extensive experience to help stakeholders across all sectors understand and mitigate the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape, helping to build a more secure and resilient digital ecosystem.

Evgeny Babitsky is the founder of Compliance Control and Rakasta, IT security expert with more than 15 years of experience. He has participated in projects from Pakistan to Portugal.

Araz Hasanzade was born in 1994 in Baku, Azerbaijan. He commenced his education at Baku Business University and earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting and Auditing in 2016. Subsequently, in 2018, he obtained a master's degree in Service Sector Accounting and Auditing from Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC). His professional journey has steered him towards developing as a risk analyst. Currently, he holds the position of Senior Fraud Analyst in the Digital Fraud Management division at PASHA Bank OJSC. He possesses strong skills in card operations management, data analytics, and fraud risk analysis. Since 2017, he has been actively worked in various roles in payment services in different financial institutions, including Rabitabank OJSC, the Financial Markets Supervisory Authority, and the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Recognized for his innovative solutions, commitment to the quality of the payment industry, and adherence to regulatory guidelines, he is acknowledged as a professional analyst continually working to advance his successes in the field.

Samra is a Senior economist and Project manager of Sustainable finance project at the Central Bank of the Republic of Azerbaijan and has 7 years of work experience in financial markets.

Her professional career has a blend from both private financial market institutions and financial markets regulatory authority. Areas she has gained experience encompass sustainable finance, macroprudential policy, financial strabilty, economic analysis and risk management aspects.  

Samra also pursues academic career and she is Adjunct instructor the Business School of ADA University delivering finance and economics related courses.

Ms Talishinskaya-Abbasova holds MSc in Finance from Warwick Business School, the UK and BSc in Finance from Qafqaz University, Azerbaijan.

Samra co-authored a paper “Impact of financial development on carbon dioxide emissions: empirical evidence from Azerbaijan, Russia, and Kazakhstan” which she presented at 44th IAEE Annual International Conference organized by King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center  and the Saudi Association for Energy Economics held in 04-09 February 2023, Riyadh Saudi Arabia. She co-authored "The role of social and physical infrastructure spending in tradable and non-tradable growth" which was published Journal of Contemporary Economics indexed by SCOPUS.

Fuad Allahverdiyev was born on June 8, 1975 in the city of Baku. He graduated from the Faculty of Applied Mathematics of the Baku State University with a degree in Economic Cybernetics, as well as the Moscow State University named after M. V. Lomonosov, under the Executive MBA program.

F. Allahverdiev is the author and founder of several startups in the field of Telecommunications and High Technologies in Azerbaijan (SMART-BANK, AileTV, AileNet, A-Billing, MyQUEUE, Financial Mobile Connection, Azerbaijan Content Center, etc.). He worked as the head of a number of companies operating in the high technology and telecommunications industry of the country.

Currently, F. Allahverdiyev is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the backbone Internet provider AzerTelecom LLC, the General Director of AzerTelecom International LLC, the General Director of BBTV Communications cable television, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Uninet LLC and a member of the Supervisory Board of GoldenPay LLC.

Fuad Allahverdiyev is also a member of the Board of Directors of Caspian Energy Club, which unites more than 5,000 companies and organizations from 50 countries.

Fikret is a manager in Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS), joining EY back in 2019. Fikret has been successfully engaged in a wide range of non-financial assurance engagements across various industries, including oil and gas, transportation, banking, commodities trading, and telecom sectors. Fikret's expertise extends to across the ESG reporting, including GHG emissions, and sustainability strategy development. Additionally, Fikret has a background in providing sustainability consultancy and impact assessments for diverse projects, including manufacturing, utilities (water and wastewater), renewables, retail, food production, and agriculture sectors. During his practice at EY Fikret also extended his experience to Central Asia where he developed the ESG guidelines for a leading international stock exchange.

Anuar Kazbekov is Associate director at KPMG and he leads the Operational Risks and Sustainability team.

With over 10 years of experience, he has specialized in internal audit, internal control, corporate governance and ESG. He has successfully managed complex projects for government authorities, major Kazakhstan and foreign companies across diverse sectors of the economy, including metallurgy, oil and gas, telecommunications and banking. Gabit assists KPMG clients in analyzing ESG trends to anticipate future company needs. He plays an active role in introducing new directions in ESG and sustainable development. His experience includes:

•       Consulting projects involving the preparation and assurance of annual reports and sustainability reports in alignment with best practices and regulatory requirements within financial markets.

•       Projects on the assessment and analysis of risks and opportunities associated with climate change, as well as on the quantification of greenhouse gas emissions, the carbon footprint of products and the carbon intensity of processes.

•       Projects on environmental assessment and expertise, ESG diagnostics, improvement of environmental, social and management systems

•       Leading projects aimed at enhancing corporate governance systems for various sectors and organizations with state involvement in Kazakhstan and the CIS region.

Served in executive roles for 15 years, Mr. Samir Mammadov holds dual profile in commercial roles at corporations as well as leadership in multinational development organizations. Coupled with his experience as a successful entrepreneur, Mr. Mammadov’s profile in private sector and socio-economic development, equips him with unique multi-dimensional view and insights of developmental issues and the role of business, and vice versa.

Samir Mammadov worked for Vodafone-Azerfon, Nar and Azertelecom in various roles including Business Development and Future Labs Director, Head of Corporate and Chief Sales Officer delivering record-braking results in market penetration and customer acquisition. In international development, Mr. Mammadov worked for World Vision International, SC Netherlands and Save the Children Federation as Azerbaijan Country Director with various assignments in Georgia, Egypt and Lebanon.  Returning to development after his successful tenure in private sector and as an entrepreneur, Mr. Samir Mammadov is now Azerbaijan Country Representative for the United Nations Global Compact, world’s largest corporate sustainibility network hosting over 20,000 businesses committed to a better global future. He is a prominent believer, practitioner and advocate of diligent business practices and corporate sustainibility that impacts a business commercially.

 Mr. Mammadov studied International Economic Relations at the Georgia State Agricultural University, holds a Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics from Lancaster University and read Human Services course at the College of Southern Idaho. He is a Britain’s John Smith and US Donald Rumsfeld Fellow administered by the American Foreign Policy Council, Ashton Horny Scholar and Future Leaders Exchange alumnus in his secondary school years.

Hurshid comes with nineteen years of experience in economic analysis and development both at national and international level.  He started his professional career with the Ministry of Economy of Uzbekistan working on foreign trade policies and balance of payments. Later Hurshid joined UNDP Uzbekistan where he led the sustainable development team integrating the social, economic and environmental dimensions of UNDP’s development assistance to the country.  More recently Hurshid served as the Economist of the United Nations Development system in Turkmenistan. Since April 2022 he has been working as the Economist at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Azerbaijan.

Maria Bassermann has worked as regional labour mobility and social inclusion coordinator in the IOM Regional Office for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Before that, she worked as a project coordinator and research associate in the IOM Country Office for Austria. She studied Migration and Intercultural Relations amongst others in Germany, Norway and Uganda, as well as Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Vienna.

Elvin Afandi holds a Ph.D degree in economics and has a post-doctoral degree in development economics at Michigan State University and is currently the Head of Corporate Strategy and Research Division at the Islamic Corporation for Development of Private Sector (ICD), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group. Prior to the ICD, he served as a Senior Economist at the Central Bank and Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan. He has led a number of research projects conducted for WB, ADB, USAID, UNDP, OSI and EERC. Dr. Elvin Afandi also taught graduate level courses in development economics and econometrics at universities in the Republic of Azerbaijan and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He regularly publishes empirical and policy papers in the field of development economics.

Over 15 years of experience in international (UNESCAP, UNDP, EC, ILO, WEF, World Bank, IFC, OECD) and local projects, as well as banking and financial development (initiated, designed, and headed 20+ high-impact cross-functional projects related to strategy & operations, Bank Operation Systems migrations, payment systems, customer products and services, innovation and entrepreneurship development) and supporting banks and financial services in tackling current challenges (such as new disruptive financial technologies digitalization, open banking, BaaS, agile transformations) and increasing awareness of population about new banking services.

Ms. Mammadova holds an MBA in Finance, Azerbaijan State University of Economics and BA in Public Administration from the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. She is a certified expert in Risk Management from Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. She received a certificate on “Negotiations within the EU and with the EU” from Ecole Nationale d'administration (ENA) in France.  She attained an Executive Education Certificate in "Fintech and Regulatory Innovation" from the Cambridge University, Centre for Alternative Finance.

As Head of Russia CIS, Matthieu de Heering leads a team spread out across Swift’s HQ in Belgium, and other EU locations, covering 9 countries including Russia, Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Prior to his current assignment, de Heering was senior director in SWIFT’s Capital Markets Strategy team, engaging with the key clients, national user communities, and industry groups, on Swift’s long-term role in the tokenized assets space; and on extending our successful financial crime compliance portfolio to securities markets.

Between 2006 and 2020, de Heering held numerous responsibilities in SWIFT Standards, including Project Manager for Target2-Securities, representing SWIFT on ECB and 4CB working groups from 2010 to 2012. He joined SWIFT from the Bank of New York’s Global Custody hub in November 2006 where he was Head of Management Information and Statistics.

de Heering is holds a master’s degree in business and technology from the Institut Catholique des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Brussels and has completed marketing and leadership modules at Wharton and IESE business schools. He is fluent in English, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish and Dutch. He is married and the father of two sons.