2018 – now Professional independent member of Supervisory Boards, Chair of Audit Committees & Assistant Professor at Warsaw School of Economics & World Bank railway consultant (see below)
2016 – 2018 Luma Investment
President of the Management Board, Chief Executive Officer
- Luma Investment (currently Luma Holding) is private company active across the CEE and Balkans region investing in businesses with global ambitions. Whereas venture capital fund is industry agnostic, with private equity investments focus on downstream industrial, consumer goods & medical sectors as well as new technologies. Luma Investment consisted of 4 funds: Luma Ventures, Luma Metallurgical Industry, Luma Automotive and Luma Leveraged Buyout.
Achievements:
- In charge of setting up professional structure of investments funds from the scratch
- Successfully employing professionals for various functions and funds
- Finalized 2 buy side transactions in Luma Automotive and 5 in Luma Ventures
- Involved in restructuring ReAlloys – ferroalloys producer in Łaziska Górne, Poland
- Prepared structure for the new phase of development
2012 – 2015 Polish State Railways (PKP S.A.)
President of the Management Board, Chief Executive Officer
- Value of the capital group of PLN 25.3bn, 13 subsidiaries, employment of 80,000, portfolio of roughly 100,000 parcels of real estate;
Achievements:
- Successfully finalized the privatization processes of PKP CARGO S.A. (IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange worth PLN 1.42bn, voted the most successful IPO in 2013, followed by an ABB worth over
PLN 580m; with EBRD participated), PKP Energetyka S.A. (transaction value: PLN 1.41bn, acquired by CVC Capital Partners), TK Telekom Sp. z o.o. (transaction value: PLN 221m, acquired by Netia) and PKL S.A. (transaction value: PLN 215m, acquired by Mid Europa Partners); - Paid off the historical debt of PKP S.A. from the level of PLN 4bn at the end of 2011 to PLN 0.5bn in
Q3 2015; - Funded the passenger carrier PKP Intercity with PLN 1bn revenue from privatization (aimed at modernization of the rolling stock and maintenance end stations);
- Set up an effective group-wide Internal Audit & Anti-Corruption system to prevent, detect and investigate corruption and fraud schemes with new independent internal Audit Department as a core with dedicated team focused on forensic task.
- Implemented a new organizational culture, including CSR and Code of Ethics with a whistleblowing hotline; clearly defining the standard of conduct within the organization, in relation to employees, suppliers, competitors, and other stakeholders. The System has contributed to limit damaging of assets and reputation of the Group due to theft, collusion with criminal elements, irregularities procurement’s processes, nepotism etc.; co-established the Ethics Advocacy Coalition as a part of the UN Global Compact initiative;
- Increased the level of absorption of EU funds by the PKP Group from 12% at the end of 2011 up to roughly 99% by the end of 2015;
- Secured financing for key investment projects for 2014-2015 summing up to some PLN 7bn, including EIB loans and issuing bonds;
- Successfully implemented the Pendolino project – the first high-speed trains in Central and Eastern Europe. Total value of the project of PLN 1.8bn. Trains purchased from Alstom Group;
- Successful restructuring of PKP Intercity – first increase in the number of passengers since 2011
(24.7% y/y growth in Q2 2015); - Implemented changes in customer service quality delivery – railway stations modernization program worth roughly PLN 1bn, opened 84 modern railway stations, over 500 initiatives aiming to increase the comfort and safety of passengers;
- Initiated a real estate sales program resulting in over PLN 1bn revenue in the 2012-2015 period (including sale of shares in developer projects: Galeria Katowicka – RoE 159% and Poznań City Center –
RoE 134%); - Established a specialized developer company with expected value of developer projects in the portfolio of EUR 8.84bn;
- Implemented corporate governance standards based on OECD Best Practice. Effective restructuring of the PKP Group companies resulting in an increase of dividends from PLN 89m in 2011 up to PLN 179m in 2014;
- Established a group purchasing organization within the PKP Group – total value of tenders of PLN 2.2bn, estimated savings of PLN 130m;
- Reorganized the PKP Group subsidiaries – centralized the support functions, established an audit department, introduced MBO (management by objectives) and incentive programs for employees;
- Established an effective dialog with the social side (over 400 labor unions in the PKP Group) – renegotiated the Employee Guarantee Program in PKP Cargo, PKP Energetyka and TK Telekom; amended the Collective Labor Agreement in PKP S.A.; supervised the Voluntary Redundancy Program in PKP Group subsidiaries; reduced costs associated with transport benefits for employees by PLN 200m;
Extract from International Monetary Fund (IMF) report prepared in collaboration with EBRD (IMF International Department no. 19/11, box. 8 page 68-69) “Reassessing the Role of State-Owned Enterprises in Central, Eastern , and Southeastern Europe” published June 17, 2019:
In 2012, the government appointed a new management team with a mandate to improve PKP’s performance along a number of dimensions and reinvigorate delayed privatization efforts. The new team carried out several governance reforms including the introduction of the management by objectives (MBO) framework across subsidiaries to improve supervision, use of the strengthened and centralized internal audit function and wider use of external experts in strategic projects and operations.
Privatization efforts were revitalized as well, including the sale of PKP’s cable car and funicular services subsidiary, listing of PKP Cargo on the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the sale of PKP’s telecommunication and energy subsidiaries between 2013 and 2015. In addition, the company continued the sale of its redundant real estate assets and established a property development company to develop more attractive ones. Total employment was further reduced to about 70,000 in 2017. As a result of these efforts, the company managed to significantly reduce its indebtedness, and productivity improved.
The restructuring experience of PKP provides a number of important lessons for governments embarking on reforming underperforming SOEs:
- Problems may be so widespread and deep-seated that they may require several reform waves to be brought under control.
- The functional separation of distinct business and service lines is a prerequisite for restructuring, but it is not in itself sufficient to improve the financial and operational performance of an enterprise.
- Actions to reduce indebtedness, including through privatizations and a focus on core assets, helped stabilize the company’s performance.
- Labor restructuring, although socially difficult, is unavoidable in companies where excess labor is an obvious financial liability.
The introduction of a professional management team, deployment of enhanced monitoring frameworks, strengthened internal audit and improved corporate governance practices appear to have significantly contributed to the success of reform efforts.
2008 – 2012 PKO TFI S.A. – PKO Bank Polski Group
President of the Management Board, Chairman of the Investment Committee
- PLN 9bn of assets under management (#3 on the Polish market), over 400,000 clients, superb investment performance (11 out of 14 mutual funds ranked in the first quarter in 2011);
Achievements:
- Successfully finalized an asset management acquisition project worth PLN 8bn with Credit Suisse Asset Management Polska S.A.;
- Created a competent and independent asset management team – increased the asset management responsibilities, risk control and compliance and support functions;
- Achieved above-par investment performance in 2010-2011 – 14 out of 14 mutual funds outperformed the market and 11 out of 14 mutual funds ranked in the first quartile in 2011;
- In charge of the successful acquisition of asset management for private clients from PKO BP Brokerage House (DM PKO BP) in 2011;
2003 – 2008 The World Bank Group, Washington DC
Member of the World Bank Executive Board, Alternate Executive Director
Responsibilities as the board member:
- Implemented Financial System Assessment Programs;
- Managed assets and liabilities of the World Bank as the Executive Board Member;
- As a member of the Committee of Development Effectiveness evaluated the effectiveness of the World Bank aid programs;
- Representative of the World Bank in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro (then Serbia), Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan;
2001 – 2003 National Bank of Poland (central bank)
International Department
2002-2003 Director
2001-2002 Adviser to the President
- Participated in the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union integration process;
- Cooperated with international financial institutions, including ECB, IMW, World Bank, EBRD, BIS, OECD, EIB and central banks;
- Conducted research in international comparative studies;
- Member of the Investment Committee for Foreign Reserve in charge of strategic decisions on Poland’s foreign reserves of ca. USD 30bn;
- NBP representative of the International Relations Committee (IRC) of the European Central Bank (ECB);
2000 – 2002 The Polish Confederation of Private Employers (currently PKPP ”Lewiatan”)
Macroeconomic Adviser
- Responsible for macroeconomic analyses of public finance issues;
1997 – 2000 Polish Ministry of Finance
1998-2000 Head of Policy Cabinet
1997-1998 Adviser to the Minister of Finance
- Created and lead the team of assistants to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Prof. Leszek Balcerowicz;
- Co-created a student loans system based on the Student Loans and Credit Act;
- Co-participated in the preparation of a tax system reform;
- Secretary of the Working Group for Coal Mining Restructuring;
1996 – 1997 Second National Investment Fund Financial Analyst
MEMBERSHIP IN SUPERVISORY BOARDS
2018 – present Ukrposhta (Ukrainian post; 3rd largest company in Ukraine), Kiev, Ukraine
Independent Member of the Supervisory Board, Chairman of Audit Committee
Chosen by Selection Committee with World Bank/IFC, IMF, EBRD and Ukrainian government participants; 5 members chosen among 90+ candidates
2017 – present Euler Hermes Polska
Independent Member of the Supervisory Board, Chairman of the Audit Committee
2017 – present Allianz Non-Life Insurance Polska
Independent Member of the Supervisory Board, Chairman of the Audit Committee
2017 – present Allianz Life Insurance Polska
Independent Member of the Supervisory Board, Chairman of the Audit Committee
2017 – present Allianz Investment& Mutual Funds Polska
Independent Member of the Supervisory Board, Chairman of the Audit Committee
2016 – present Real Estate Management Company owned by the municipality of Bydgoszcz city (ADM)
Member of the Supervisory Board
2018 – 2019 Luma Automotive (subsidiary of Luma Investment, see above), Łaziska Górne, Poland
Member of the Supervisory Board
2018 – 2019 Prime Car Management S.A. (publicly listed company), Gdańsk, Poland
Member of the Supervisory Board, member of Strategy Committee
2018 – 2019 Protektor S.A. (publicly listed company), Lublin, Poland
Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board
2015 – 2019 HSBC Bank Polska S.A.
Independent Member of the Supervisory Board, Chairman of Audit Committee, Member of Risk Committee (previously Chairman of Risk&Audit Committee)
2015 – 2015 Advanced World Transport B.V., The Netherlands
Member of the Supervisory Board, Member of the Finance, Investment, Audit and Risk Management Committee
2014 – 2016 PZU S.A. (the largest insurance group in Central Europe) Poland
Member of the Supervisory Board, Member of the Strategy Committee
2012 – 2015 PKP Cargo S.A. (2nd largest rail cargo company in European Union)
Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Member of the Nomination Committee
2012 – 2013 TK Telekom Sp. z o.o., Poland
Chairman of the Supervisory Board
2001 – 2002 Automative Coolers Factory ”Fach” in Cieszyn (Fabryka Automatyki Chłodniczej) Poland
Member of the Supervisory Board
2001 – 2001 Bolilers Factory ”Stąporków” in Stąporków (Zakłady Urządzeń Kotłowych) Poland
Member of the Supervisory Board
1999 – 2001 Industrial Development Agency JSC (Agencja Rozwoju Przemysłu S.A.) Poland
2000 – 2001 Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board
1999 – 2000 Member of the Supervisory Board
1999 – 2000 Cotton Industry Plant “Zawtex” in Zawiercie, Poland
Member of the Supervisory Board
