EBA Board 2023-2024

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EBA Board 2019-2022 

 

ANDREA WIKTORIN 
EU Ambassador 

Over the last years, the relations between the European Union and the Republic of Armenia have developed very dynamically. On 1 March 2021, the European Union-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) entered into force. The growth and development of the EU – Armenia partnership proceeds in various directions among which are the three main EU priorities: private sector development, public administration reform and justice sector reform. The creation of a European Business Association (EBA) Armenia comes very timely to accompany the above developments and support European business community in the country. The EBA intends not only to implement best business management practices and EU standards but is also to serve as a platform for dialogue and trade facilitation. The major asset of doing business is to stay competitive in the market, and you stay competitive only if you know the rules. The EBA proved to be very important tool of improving regulations in Armenia, advocating business interests and in bettering the environment for business and investments, to come to Armenia. The EU warmly welcomes the EBA’s efforts to attract foreign investments and to facilitate trade between Armenian businesses and foreign partners. In the context of the CEPA negotiation process the role of this Association will be crucial in guiding and in raising awareness among the business community on what the CEPA is and on its implications on business. I wish the EBA and its members further success and achievements!

 

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EBA Board 2017-2018

 

  
H.E. Mr. PIOTR ANTONI SWITALSKI
Honorary President

H.E. Mr. Piotr Antoni Switalski the Head of the European Delegation to the Republic of Armenia has been elected by the Board of the European Business Association as an Honorary President in February 2017. Mr. Piotr Switalski, EU Ambassador in Armenia since September 2015. Prior to that, he was serving as Director for Policy Planning in the Council of Europe and was formerly the Permanent Representative of Poland to the Council of Europe. During his diplomatic career, he served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Poland, worked in OSCE and UN.

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GIOVANNI RICCIULLI
Honorary Advisor

After obtaining a Degree in Law at “La Sapienza” University, Rome, he entered the Italian Diplomatic Service. He followed commercial affairs and development cooperate on at the Embassies in Ethiopia and in Morocco and, from 1990, emergency aid at the Italian Foreign Ministry. He was Counselor at the Embassy of Italy in Japan (Political Affairs) and, in 1998 at the Permanent Representation of Italy to the European Union (Commercial issues, Energy, and Transatlantic relations). From 2001 he headed the Ministry’s Office competent for relations with Cyprus, France, Greece, Holy See (Vatican City State), Malta, Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, and Turkey.  After serving as First Counselor at the Embassy of Italy in Sweden, in 2007 he was appointed Ambassador of Italy to the Republic of Uzbekistan, and non-resident Ambassador to Tajikistan. From 2013 to 2018 he served as Ambassador of Italy to the Republic of Armenia.

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LEVON ISRAYELYAN
Chairman

Levon Israelyan has a huge working experience in private sector. For a long time he was working as CCO in one of leading telecom companies in Armenia. From 2014 is director of Armenian-Italian Association for Commerce and Industry, which is there to support and improve business relations between two countries. From 1993 to 1998 Levon has studied in Italy, Venice, after which he returned to his motherland and is graduated after YSU in 2000. Coming from private sector Levon has a deep understanding of needs and issues those private companies might face.

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GEORGE BLEKAS
Board Member

Mr. Georgios Blekas was born in 1973 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He graduated as Electronic Engineer in Greece and, since 2008, holds an Executive MBA in Finance from the University of Sheffield, UK. He joined Intracom Group in 1999, after a few years of telecom and IT experience in local ICT SMEs. He has been an expatriate since 2002 with the establishment of Intracom Ltd Skopje, where he worked until 2007 when he left the position of the Technical Director to join Intracom Svyaz LLC in Moscow as the Technical Director. Since 2009 he has been appointed General Director of Intracom Telecom Albania S.A. while since 2014 he has been additionally appointed General Director of Intracom Armenia LLC. Mr. Blekas sits also on the Board of Directors (BoD) of Intracom Telecom in Athens, the BoD of Intracom Armenia LLC, the BoD of the Hellenic Business Association of Albania, the BoD of the Albanian CSR Network and the organizing committee of InfoCom Albanian Telecom Forum.

 

EBA Board 2015-2017

 

 

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DIANA SARUMOVA
Executive Director

Ms. Diana Sarumova has been assigned as an Executive Director of the European Business Association (EBA) in Armenia since February 2016.

She has more than 15 years of related working experience in SME development and Financial Sector Development. Before joining the EBA she worked at different positions in financial sector and SME development projects.

She has started her career in early 2004 in a banking sector and since 2008 she was combining banking and SME development activities in different roles and positions in the Private banking sector and international organizations.

Starting from 2018 she has been also elected as a vice-chairwoman of the European Business Organizations World Wide Network.

Diana Sarumova has got an MBA degree at the Presidential Academy, High School of Corporate Governance. She studied Finance and SME lending at the Indian University of Banking Management in Pune.

She studied Principles of Valuation at the University of Michigan and has Masters in Economics degree from the RAU State University, Yerevan. She speaks Armenian, Russian and English languages.