STRENGTHENING
ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL
RESILIENCE OF THE EU EASTERN BORDER

Mr Januš Kizenevič

Vice-Minister of Finance of Lithuania

Vice-Minister of Finance Januš Kizenevič – With over 13 years of international experience in the financial and legal services sectors, Mr. Kizenevič has served as Senior Vice President at Citibank (a member of Citigroup) in London since 2021, where he was responsible for the risk management of new investment products and services across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region.
From 2018 to 2021, he held the position of Vice President at Citi Handlowy (a member of Citigroup) in Warsaw, where he worked as Senior Risk Officer and Acting Deputy Chief Risk Officer (CRO).
Between 2015 and 2018, he worked as a Corporate Governance and Strategic Projects Analyst at HSBC Bank Polska S.A. (a member of HSBC Holdings plc) in Warsaw.
Previously, from 2012 to 2015, he was a lawyer at the law firm Varul in Vilnius.
Mr. Kizenevič holds a Master’s degree in Law from Vilnius University (VU), as well as a Master’s degree in Finance and Accounting from the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH). He has also completed internships at the Jagiellonian University (UJ) in Kraków (Poland), the University of Cambridge (UK), and Stanford Graduate School of Business (USA).
As Vice-Minister of Finance, Mr. Kizenevič is responsible for areas including financial markets policy and international affairs.

André Küüsvek

President & CEO, NIB

André is leading the Nordic Investment Bank (www.nib.int), the international financial institution of Nordic-Baltic countries since 2021.

In 1996-2021, André held leadership positions at the EBRD, most recently as a Managing Director, earlier as Director (Capital Markets and Local Currencies 2013-2020; country head Ukraine 2008-2013 and Kazakhstan 2004-2008), served at management committees (Strategy & Policy; ALCO).

In 1992-1995, André, headed departments at Tartu Kommertspank and Bank of Tallinn in Estonia, and worked for SMH Bank and Dresdner Bank in Germany.

André has served at >30 boards of banks, exchanges, equity funds, insurance and infrastructure companies. He is the Chair of the Supervisory Board of Tallinn Airport as of April 2024, and a graduate of Tallinn University of Technology, Estonian Business School, and Stockholm School of Economics.

Mr Andrzej Domański

Minister of Finance and Economy of Poland

Andrzej Domański was born in 1981 in Kraków. He graduated from the University of Economics in Kraków. He is a member of the Polish Parliament of the 10th term.

Over the years, he has been involved in the Polish capital market as analyst, fund manager, as well as investment director and board member of domestic and international financial institutions.

From 2008 to 2019, he managed equity funds and was also investment director and member of the management board in domestic and international financial institutions.

He worked as analyst and equity portfolio manager at KBC TFI (2008-2010), manager and director of fund management of Noble Funds TFI (2010-2016).

From 2016 to 2019, he was member of the management board of Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych Eques Investment TFI (responsible for the Capital Markets Department, fund management, as well as macroeconomic and equity market analyses).

From 2020 to 2023, advisor to the biotechnology startup Auxilius Pharma. Member of the Supervisory Boards of XTPL (2020-2023), Movie Games (2022) and Auxilius Pharma (Chairman of the Supervisory Board).

He was chief economist of the Civic Institute and co-author of the Civic Platform’s economic programme.

Andrzej Domański is a three-time winner of the "Alfa" award for the best stock market fund manager and the "Złoty Portfel" award of stock market newspaper “Parkiet”. He holds a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) certificate.

He was a behavioral finance lecturer at Łazarski University and lectured mitigation and adaptation strategies in the face of the climate crisis at SWPS University in Warsaw.

Privately, he is father and husband. He enjoys jogging and chess in his spare time.

Mr Tomasz Marciniak

(McKinsey)

Tomasz Marciniak is the Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company’s Warsaw office and the Leader of the Private Equity & Principal Investors Practice in Central and Eastern Europe. He brings 20 years of experience in strategic advisory, having worked across more than 20 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and the Middle East. He advises leading organizations in the energy, technology, financial services, public, defence, and private equity sectors on growth strategies, digital transformation, restructuring, and M&A.

He is a co-author of several McKinsey publications and actively contributes to discussions on digital transformation, AI, and economic development in the region. Tomasz holds a degree from the University of Łódź and has completed additional programs at the London School of Economics, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, FMU University Center, and the Colorado School of Mines.

Ms Inga Ruginienė

Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania

Inga Ruginienė is the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania from 25 September 2025.

Inga Ruginienė holds a Master's degree in Labour Law from Mykolas Romeris University, a Master's degree in Public Health from Vilnius University, and a Bachelor's degree in Forest Management from Kaunas College of Forest and Environmental Engineering.

Inga Ruginienė served the Minister of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania in the 19th government, has extensive experience in leadership roles, including serving as the President of the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation, Vice President of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Vice President of the International Trade Union Confederation - European Region (ITUC-PERC), and Chairperson of the Lithuanian Federation of Trade Unions of the Forest and Forest Industry.

Since 2024, Inga Ruginienė has been a Member of the Parliament (Seimas).

In addition to her professional achievements, Inga Ruginienė is actively involved in social activities. She has been a first aid instructor and volunteer at the Lithuanian Red Cross Society, where she served as a board member from 2016 to 2019. She also held a board position at Kaunas College of Forest and Environmental Engineering from 2021 to 2023.

Mr Andrius Kubilius

European Commissioner for Defence and Space

Andrius Kubilius is a Member of the European Commission responsible for Defence and Space (since December 2024). From 1990 to 1992, he served as a Secretary-in-Charge of Lithuania's pro-independence Sąjūdis movement and was the Chairman of the Homeland Union – Lithuanian Christian Democrats from 2003 to 2015. A. Kubilius was a member of the Lithuanian Parliament from 1992 to 2019 and served twice as Prime Minister, from 1999 to 2000 and from 2008 to 2012. Andrius Kubilius was a Member of the European Parliament from 2019 until December 2024, during this period he chaired the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (until July 2024).

Mr Kristupas Vaitiekūnas

Minister of Finance of Lithuania

Kristupas Vaitiekūnas is the Minister of Finance of Lithuania. In January-September 2025, he served as Vice-Minister of Finance, overseeing tax policy, financial market policy, financial policy, European Union and international affairs.

Based on the proposals submitted by K. Vaitiekūnas, the Seimas adopted the necessary tax changes in order to better finance defence and other priority areas in Lithuania.

In recent years, K. Vaitiekūnas has worked as a Tax Project Manager at Rödl & Partner UAB, before that – as a Senior Transfer Pricing Consultant and Analyst, and Chief Project Management Specialist at the National Cancer Institute, etc.

K. Vaitiekūnas graduated from Vilnius University with a Bachelor's degree in Economics, where he also obtained a Master's degree in International Finance.

Mr Raffaele Fitto

Executive Vice-President of the European Commission

Raffaele Fitto is Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for Cohesion and Reforms, responsible for strengthening EU cohesion, investment policy and reforms that support sustainable growth, regional development and competitiveness across Europe. He previously served in the Italian government as Minister for European Affairs, Southern Italy and Cohesion Policy, and has held leadership roles in the European Parliament.

Dr. Ari Jónsson

President of the NATO Innovation Fund

Dr. Jónsson is the President of the NATO Innovation Fund. As President, he drives operational excellence in meeting the Fund’s commercial, adoption and capacity building goals. He also serves as an advocate for the NIF and its portfolio companies across the 24 nations backing the Fund.

Dr. Jónsson joins the NIF from Icelandic tech company Videntifier, where he has been serving as CEO. He previously served as President of one of Iceland’s largest universities. Before that, he was a senior research scientist and manager at NASA for 10 years. He graduated with a PhD from Stanford University in 1997, with focus on artificial intelligence.

Mr Arvils Ašeradens

Minister of Finance of Latvia

Arvils Ašeradens has served as Latvia’s Minister of Finance since December 2022. In this role, he oversees Latvia’s fiscal policy, state budget development, financial sector policy, capital markets strategy, and Latvia’s engagement with EU and international financial institutions.

A long-standing member of the Latvian Parliament (Saeima), Ašeradens has been elected to the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th Saeima. Over the course of his parliamentary career, he has worked extensively on economic, financial and structural reform issues at both national and European levels.

From 2016 to 2019, he served as Minister of Economics. He has also previously served as Parliamentary Secretary at both the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Welfare.

Before entering politics, Ašeradens built his career in the private sector as an entrepreneur and business executive, providing him with first-hand insight into the investment climate, capital development and business growth challenges.

As Minister of Finance, he has prioritised strengthening Latvia’s financial sector resilience, capital market development, digital finance and innovation, as well as ensuring sustainable public finances amid changing geopolitical and economic conditions.
Arvils Ašeradens holds a Master’s degree in Economic Geography from the University of Latvia.

Mr Jürgen Ligi

Minister of Finance of Estonia

Jürgen Ligi is the Minister of Finance of Estonia and a long-serving member of the Estonian Parliament. He has previously held several key ministerial positions, including Defence, Foreign Affairs, and Education and Research. With a background in international economics and decades of policy experience, he is one of Estonia’s most influential voices on fiscal policy and governance.

Mr Sergii Marchenko

Minister of Finance of Ukraine

Sergii Marchenko was appointed Minister of Finance of Ukraine in March 2020, and reappointed in July 2025. He has extensive experience in the public sector, specifically in fiscal reforms, since 2002. In 2023, he chaired the Board of Governors of the WBG and the IMF and is currently co-chairing the Steering Committee of the UDP, coordinating support for Ukraine`s financial needs. He holds a M.Sc. in Public Finance Management from the Academy of State Fiscal Tax Service of Ukraine and a Ph.D. in Economics from the Scientific and Research Financial Institute of the Ministry of Finance.

Mr Robert de Groot

Vice-President of the European Investment Bank

Before joining the European Investment Bank as Vice-President as of 1st of February 2024, Robert de Groot was the Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the European Union from May 2017 to January 2024. After joining the Netherlands’ Foreign Service in 1989, he has held various positions with the Foreign Ministry, both in The Hague and abroad.

From 2011 to 2016 Robert de Groot was Director-General for European Cooperation (also during the Dutch European Presidency in 2016). Furthermore, he was Deputy Director General for Political Affairs from 2008 to 2011, Director of the Security Policy Department from 2005 to 2008 and Head of the Bureau of the Secretary General from 2002 to 2005. Prior to that he was the Foreign Policy Advisor to the Netherlands’ Prime Minister Mr Wim Kok (within the Ministry of General Affairs), from 1998 to 2002.
Robert de Groot holds a Master’s Degree in Monetary Economics from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Mr Tomasz Husak

Director for Defence Policy, Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space

From the 16th of February 2026, Director of Directorate A – Defence Policy in the Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space.

He has 20 years of experience in defence and space policy, economics and international relations. Prior to joining the Commission in 2014, Mr Husak worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. Between 2014 and 2019, he served as Head of Cabinet of former Commissioner, in charge of Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs. Recently, he was adviser on digital and data technologies in the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA). He served, as well, as member of the Team of Sauli Niinistö, Special Adviser to the President of the European Commission on issues related to preparedness and defence readiness.

Mr Husak played a central role in establishing the legal and budgetary foundations of the Commission's first defence research programmes between 2016 and 2019. He has also successfully conducted negotiations on behalf of the European Commission on the SAFE bilateral agreement with Canada in 2025.
Mr. Tomasz Husak, a graduate of the Warsaw’s School of Economics – SGH (PhD in Economics) and University Paris – Est (PhD in Political Science)
In addition to his mother tongue Polish, he speaks French, English and German.

Mr Sakari Puisto

Minister of Economic Affairs of Finland

The Finns Party

Minister of Economic Affairs Sakari Puisto is responsible for matters of the Innovations and Enterprise Financing Department at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment. The Department is responsible for innovation policy, special public funding and export financing policy, mineral policy, internationalisation policy of business and industry, tourism coordination and promotion of foreign investments. The Department is also in charge of the development of the business subsidy system and space policy.

Puisto is also responsible for security of supply issues and, within the Regions and Growth Services Department, for matters related to regional development, sudden structural changes, steering of the Economic Development Centres and business services offered by them, promotion of entrepreneurship, EU regional and structural policy, and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Furthermore, Minister of Economic Affairs Puisto is also responsible for matters related to the Financial Markets Department of the Ministry of Finance, with the exception of matters related to the strategic steering and supervision of central government borrowing, debt servicing and the investment of cash funds.

Born in 1976 in Tampere, Puisto holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge (2004). He has been a Member of Parliament since 2019 and was re-elected in 2023. Prior to his ministerial role, he served as Chair of the Economic Affairs Committee and as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He has also held oversight roles related to the Bank of Finland, the Financial Supervisory Authority, and Finnfund. In 2025, he was elected to his third term as a City Councillor in Tampere. Before entering politics, he worked in both academia and the private sector, including several years in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Sakari Puisto is a long-standing friend of Lithuania and chairs the parliamentary group for relations with Lithuania in the Finnish Parliament.

Mr Guntram Wolff

Senior Fellow at Bruegel

Guntram Wolff is a Senior Fellow at Bruegel. He specialises in a range of issues, including defence economics, particularly European rearmament, European governance, and the geoeconomics of trade, finance, climate policy and euro-area fiscal policy.

He is a Professor of Economics at the Université libre de Bruxelles and also a fellow at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. Previously, he was the director of Bruegel (2013-22) and the German Council on Foreign Relations (2022-24). He worked on the macroeconomics and governance of the euro area at the European Commission and the research department at the Bundesbank. He also worked as an external adviser to the International Monetary Fund. From 2012-16, he was a member of the French prime minister’s Conseil d’Analyse Economique. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Bonn.

Mr Roland Chai

President, European Markets, Nasdaq

Roland Chai is EVP and President of European Market Services, responsible for Nasdaq's multi-asset trading, clearing, listings, and market services businesses across Europe, including Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania stock exchanges.

Prior to leading European Market Services, Roland was the head of Nasdaq’s Marketplace Technology business, which comprises purpose-built products to meet the technology needs of marketplace infrastructure clients. He also previously served as Nasdaq’s first Global Chief Risk Officer, responsible for developing, reviewing and maintaining Nasdaq’s global risk program while overseeing risk functions of Nasdaq Clearing and Nasdaq Fixed Income.

 Before joining Nasdaq, Roland served as Head of Post-Trade at the Hong Kong Exchange, where he oversaw clearing and risk management functions across equities and fixed income, currencies and commodities, as well as the exchange’s market surveillance. He previously served as Group Risk Officer at Hong Kong Exchange. During his tenure, Roland re-established risk frameworks across Exchange, Listings, Mainland Commodities, Trading, and Clearing departments. Roland also served on the Board of LME Clear. Prior to joining the Hong Kong Exchange, Roland served as Head of Equities at LCH.Clearnet Ltd and as Product Development Manager at Australian Securities Exchange.

Ms Sallianne Taylor

Head of Government Affairs for Europe, Central Asia, the Nordics, Türkiye & Israel at Bloomberg LP

The Team advocates for Bloomberg, Bloomberg’s clients and stakeholders within the global regulatory and government space. Prior to joining the team Sallianne spent two years on secondment at His Majesty’s Treasury working on the Wholesale Market Review which concentrated on reforms to the UK’s Capital Markets following its exit from Europe.

Sallianne joined Bloomberg in 1989 and has held positions within Sales, Trading Solutions and Product Development. Prior to her time at His Majesty’s Treasury, she led the Market Structure Strategy team which was a natural progression from Global Manager of Exchange Business Management where she oversaw Bloomberg’s relationships with the exchanges and trading venues. Sallianne holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and Italian from Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (University of London). She represents Bloomberg on the executive committee of FISD (Financial Information Services Division of the Software & Information Industry Association) and is on the board of FISD’s parent company, SIIA (Software & Information Industry Association). Sallianne was named Woman of the Year at the inaugural Waters Women in Technology & Data Awards 2018 and in the same year recognised as one of Top 100 Most Influential Women in Finance in Europe by Financial News.

In 2024 Sallianne was awarded the Financial Information Lifetime Achievement Award at the 16TH biennial World Financial Information Conference.

Sallianne is a trustee of The BCS Foundation which seeks to create a future where every young person can thrive in a digital world, regardless of their background.