Selected Speakers
Carl-Albrecht Bartmer ǀ Chairman of the Supervisory Board, DLG e.V., Germany
He was born in Germany in 1961. After studying Agricultural Sciences at the Georg-August University of Göttingen, he worked as Operations Manager of a seed breeding company. Carl-Albrecht Bartmer has been running his own arable farm with over 1000 hectares of land in East Germany since 1991. From 2006 to 2018 he was President of the DLG. Since February 2018 he is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the DLG.
Silvia Bender ǀ Teamleader Biodiversity, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland e.V. (BUND) – Friends of the Earth Germany
Agronomist, since 2017 head of biodiversity at BUND e.V., worked before as advisor for agricultural and environmental policy in different organisations such as Bioland e.V., the parliamentary Group of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen or the ministry of the Environment of Rhineland-Palatinate. Member of the supervisory board of BioBoden Genossenschaft e.G. and association chairman of Fördergemeinschaft Ökologischer Landbau e.V.
Ruud Huirne ǀ Director Food and Agriculture, Rabobank, The Netherlands
He graduated and got his PhD in Agricultural Economics from Wageningen University. In 1999 he became Professor of Farm Management and he served in several management positions. In 2012 he was appointed as Director Food&Agri at Rabobank Nederland, were he is responsible for lending to farmers, growers and mid-cap companies in the food- and agribusiness. He is still connected to Wageningen University through a part-time appointment ‘Cooperative entrepreneurship’.
Mila Kletsky ǀ President and Academic Director, Picking Alpha, Belgium
Professor Mila Kletsky, PhD, Dr. (Econ), was teaching in number of North American and European Universities and Business Schools in EMBA, MBA and Master programs, she is a member of EDEN. She is a President and Academic Director of the digital publication Picking Alpha on investments in food-water-energy markets, undervalued markets and circular economy. Mila Kletsky is an experienced researcher of international commodity markets, innovations, models of risk management. She is member of the Jury for StartUp Europe Awards supported by President of EU Parliament Antonio Tajani.
Alex Lissitsa ǀ Chief Executive Officer, IMC SA, Ukraine
He earned a PhD in Agriculture from the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. Upon the completion of his PhD, he has served as a senior researcher at IAMO. In 2006 he came back to Ukraine and accepts an invitation to become an executive officer of Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation. In 2007 he founded association “Ukrainian Agribusiness Club” and obtained a position of the president of above mentioned association. Since 2007 Alex Lissitsa is an advisor to the Minister of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine and the Committee for Agricultural Policy and Land Relations of the Ukrainian Parliament.
Aurélio Pavinato ǀ Chief Executive Officer, SLC Agrícola SA, Brazil
He earned a PhD in Soil Science at Federal University of the Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and has experience in technical planning of crops, agricultural projects planning and new projects of investment and execution coordination. He has also experience on development of business plans and establishment of new agricultural business partnerships. Aurélio Pavinato has been with SLC Agrícola S.A. since 1993. It is a farming company in Brazil and produces soybean, cotton and corn.
Philipp Schreck ǀ Friede-Springer Endowed Chair of Business Ethics and Management Accounting, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
He earned his PhD at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich), Germany, with a thesis on the Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility. His research interests are on corporate responsibility, sustainability reporting, and behavioral accounting. His articles have appeared in such Journals as Business & Society, Business Ethics Quarterly, Critical Perspectives on Accounting, and the Journal of Business Ethics.
Eugenia Serova ǀ Director, FAO Liaison Office, Russian Federation
She is the head of FAO’s new liaison office with the Russian Federation in Moscow and former director of the Rural Infrastructure and Agro-Industry Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Before joining FAO, she served as adviser to the Russian Federation Minister of Agriculture, was chair and professor at the Higher School of Economics, a team leader at the Institute for Economy in Transition, and president of the Analytical Centre on Agri-Food Economics. Dr. Serova specializes in agricultural economics, agri-food policy and trade, farm cooperatives and land tenure.
Richard J. Sexton ǀ Distinguished Professor and Chair, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics (ARE), University of California, Davis, USA
He has twice served as chair of the ARE Department at Davis. He is a Past President of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and a Fellow of the AAEA. His research emphasizes competition issues and the roles of producer organizations in agricultural markets. Sexton’s recent work focuses on the rapidly changing landscape of agricultural markets, with their increased emphasis on multifaceted dimensions of product quality and differentiation, and close vertical coordination within the supply chain.
Oane Visser ǀ Associate Professor in Rural Development Studies, International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands
He has been visiting scholar at University of Oxford, City University New York, Cornell University and University of Toronto. His research focuses on farmland investment, large-scale farms, digital farming, interactions between small and large farms, and rural cooperation, particularly in Russia, Ukraine and Romania. European Research Council (ERC) laureate Visser, is coordinator of the Eurasian Agrofood and Land initiative (EURAL).
Anna Catharina Voges ǀ General Partner, Saat-Gut Plaußig Voges KG, Germany
She is General Partner of Saat-Gut Plaußig Voges KG, an arable farm on the outskirts of the city of Leipzig, Germany. The company focuses on the production of market crops and puts a strong focus on public relations and the dialogue with the regional society. Anna Catharina Voges holds a degree in Agricultural Sciences of the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart and finished her PhD in Economics at Imperial College London in 2009. In her PhD thesis she focussed on the valuation of farmers’ preferences for particular vocational characteristics and their influence on managing decisions.
Taras Vysotskyi ǀ General Director, Association Ukrainian Agribusiness Club (UCAB), Ukraine
He is General Director of UCAB in Kyiv, the largest professional association of Ukrainian agri-food sector. He is an expert in the field of operative management, marketing and market research, analysis of price conjuncture of international and Ukrainian crops markets.