​​Capital Momentum: Success Stories and New Opportunities in Emerging Eurasia

Impact Boards EM are once again collaborating with leading global law firm Freshfields for our 4th annual conference on Wednesday 25 February 2025 at 15:30 UK time. This joint event will be held at Freshfields' London offices and will be followed by a networking reception.

This year, we will focus on Capital Momentum: Success Stories and New Opportunities in Emerging Eurasia and bring together leading investors, corporate executives and board members from Central Asia and beyond to discuss the region’s evolving investment landscape. Privatisation and corporate governance will be key topics debated and discussed by our panellists.

​The audience will include approximately 50 participants, including board members and C-suite executives from pre-IPO companies, asset managers, private equity and impact investors, and board directors from emerging market companies. 

The event is by invitation only for our members and partners driving best practices in corporate governance in emerging markets. Space is limited , so we encourage our members to register as soon as possible. Non-members may join by invite only – please email us on info@iboardsem.com to register your interest.

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​Agenda 

​15:30 – 16:00 | Registration & Welcome Tea/Coffee 

16:00 – 16:10 | Welcome Remarks from Freshfields 

16:10 – 16:25 | Impact Boards EM Presentation 

16:30 – 17:15 | Panel 1: “What Makes a Company Investable? Investors’ Perspectives on Central Asia and Emerging Eurasia" 

17:20 – 18:05 | Panel 2: “From Strategy to Success: Case Studies in Attracting Capital” 

18:05 – 20:00 | Networking Reception​ 

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Panel 1

Moderator

Greg Saichin

CEO & Co-Founder – Impact Boards EM

Speakers

Marius Dan

Chief Executive Officer for Central Asia – Franklin Templeton

Marius oversees the management of the National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (“UzNIF”). Prior to this, he was Deputy CEO, Corporate Strategy for Franklin Templeton Romania, the Fund Manager of Fondul Proprietatea, a $3 billion fund listed in London and Bucharest.

Mr Dan joined Franklin Templeton in 2011 to oversee investment and corporate strategy as well as investor relations. He has over 17 years of experience in the asset management industry. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton Investments, he was anchor of several capital-market-focused programmes on The Money Channel, Romania’s business television. He also worked for BT Asset Management, one of the largest Romanian investment managers.

Marius earned a MSc. in finance at the University of Wyoming and graduated summa cum laude with a BSc. in finance from Wingate University.

View LinkedIn profile here.

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Ayuna Nechaeva

Head of Europe, Primary Markets –  London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)

Ayuna was appointed as Head of Europe, Primary Markets in 2018 having previously held a number of senior positions in Primary Markets covering the CIS and Emerging Markets since 2009. She has worked on numerous international IPOs and listings on the London Stock Exchange from a broad range of sectors, including Energy, Technology, Consumer, Fintech and Metals & Mining.

Outside LSEG, she served as Chair of TheCityUK’s EMEA Market Advisory Group and Member of TheCityUK’s International Trade and Investment Group between 2021-2024. She holds a Master’s degree in International Business (MIB) from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business.

Ayuna was featured in Management Today’s 35 under 35 Women in Management in 2017. In 2018, she was shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Award in the Business category. 

View LinkedIn profile here.

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Richard Ho

Counsel –  Freshfields

Richard is a Counsel in the global transactions group at Freshfields specialising in capital markets.

He has extensive experience advising shareholders, issuers and underwriters on the full spectrum of equity and debt capital markets transactions and listed companies on governance matters and their ongoing and transaction specific obligations.

He has advised on numerous IPOs of companies in developed and emerging markets involving primary and/or secondary stock exchange listings in London, New York, Europe and Asia.

Richard has been named a stand-out lawyer in the independent global survey of senior in-house counsel by Acritas/Thomson Reuters and has spent time on secondment at a leading investment bank and in Asia.

View LinkedIn profile here.

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Neil McKain

Regional Head for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Neil is an accomplished banker with 25 years of experience in emerging markets. Currently, he serves as the Regional Head for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group. In this role, he leverages his expertise to lead impactful initiatives across infrastructure, financial institutions, agribusiness and manufacturing agribusiness and services.

Previously, he was an Advisor to the Vice President of Banking at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London. He has held key leadership positions, including EBRD Director for the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, as well as Head of Azerbaijan. His early career at A.T. Kearney in Russia focused on the post-privatisation restructuring of former state-owned enterprises.

Neil holds an MBA from Cambridge University’s Judge Business School and an MA in International Relations from Aberdeen University. He has served as a non-executive director across various sectors, including finance, construction materials, textiles and fintech. His broad experience in complex markets provides him with unique insights to excel in volatile environments.

View LinkedIn profile here.

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Panel 2

Moderator

Olga Pascault

Co-Founder & Chair – Impact Boards EM

Speakers

Eran Klein

Non-Executive Director – TBC Bank Group PLC

Eran is a NED on the Board of TBC Bank Group plc (FTSE 250), where he chairs the ESG and Ethics Committee. He is also a Board Member at two international Chapter Zero boards. Until recently, he served as a NED at PrivatBank, the largest bank in Ukraine where he chaired the Risk Committee, including during the war.

He is particularly enthusiastic about the intersection of risk, technology (including cyber, AI and digital) and ESG.

As an executive, he held senior roles in Global Markets at leading financial institutions such as Citibank, Deutsche Bank, ING and Commerzbank. Over the course of his life and career, he has lived and worked internationally as well as covering CEEMEA markets for over two decades.

He holds an LLM (Master of Laws) with distinction from Chuo University, Japan’s leading law faculty, as well as an MSc (Sloan Masters) from London Business School, UK.

View LinkedIn profile here.

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Mel Carvill

Chairman – Lion Finance Group PLC

Mel has held numerous senior positions in Generali Group for more than 20 years latterly Head of Western Europe, Americas and the Middle East and now a non-executive with roles including Chairman Climate KIC, Vice Chairman Aviva COFCO Life insurance China and Investor Director at Clearbank Group.

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Yeldar Abdrazakov

Non-Executive Director – Air Astana Member of the Board of Directors – Kazakhstan Stock Exchange JSC (KASE)

Yeldar Abdrazakov was born in 1972 and is a citizen of the Republic of Kazakhstan. He was Managing Director at Kazkommertsbank from 1995 to 2003, Chief Executive Officer at Kazkommerts Securities from 2002 to 2004, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer from 2004 at Centras Group. Yeldar holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in economics from the Akhmet Yassawi International Kazakh-Turkish University, Almaty and has also completed the General Management Programme at Harvard Business School, USA. He is a Chartered Director of the UK’s Institute of Directors.

Committee membership:

Nomination and Remuneration Committee – Committee member

Audit Committee – Committee member

ESG Committee – Chairman of the Committee

View LinkedIn profile here.

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Alan McWalter

Plural Chairman & Non-Executive Director

Following a thirty year executive career with leading consumer companies in manufacturing, retailing and general management, Alan has held chairmanship and non-executive director roles with an extensive range of quoted and private companies operating across a range of business sectors.

He was an Executive Director at Marks & Spencer and Kingfisher Companies and in his earlier career held marketing and general management appointments with Thomson Consumer Electronics and Spillers Foods. He started his career with Unilever.

He is a fellow of the Marketing Society and a Liveryman of the City of London. He graduated from London University.

View LinkedIn profile here.