Gergely Szabó

Regional Chairman, MET Central Europe

Gergely Szabó has been leading MET Central Europe Sales from May 2024 as Regional Chairman, which is a new division of MET Group, established in the beginning of 2024, incorporating the operation of the former MET Central Europe and MET Gas and Energy Marketing. Prior to this, he led the MET Central Europe operations since 2019.
Gergely Szabó is responsible for the strategic and business management of the expanding regional team operating on the Central Europe Sales markets, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and Ukraine, where the regional group offers a broad portfolio of natural gas and electricity products and energy efficiency services to the business partners in the SME, state-owned institutions and large industrial segments.
Gergely Szabó led MET Hungary Ltd. from 2014 to 2024. and between 2020 and May 2024 he also managed METCE Hungary, which integrated the operations of MET Hungary Ltd. and E2 Hungary Ltd. Between 2011 and 2014, he was the Managing Director of MET International, managing the Swiss subsidiary of MET Group.

Mithat Aydin

Deputy Managing Director, BOTAS

Mithat AYDIN is the Deputy Managing Director in BOTAS. He previously served as Head of Gas Purchase and Export Department and Advisor of Managing Director in the same company. He completed his undergraduate education in 2006 at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and his master’s degree in 2009 at the same university. He started his business life during his university years and continued in the private sector in Germany for a while. He has been working for BOTAS for the last 12 years.

Gábor Orbán

CEO, MVM CEEnergy Zrt.

Gábor Orbán has more than 15 years of management experience in the energy sector. He began his career in the energy industry as the Commercial Director of EMFESZ, later managing the company’s operations in Poland. In 2011, he was appointed Director responsible for natural gas trading at MVM Partner. From 2013, he held director and later deputy CEO positions at Magyar Földgázkereskedő Zrt., where he was responsible for the company’s commercial and trading activities as well as its international expansion. In parallel, as Deputy CEO of PanRusGas Zrt., a joint venture between MVM and Gazprom, he was responsible for the execution of the long-term gas supply contract. Since May 2023, he has served as CEO of MVM Partner Zrt., and as of November 2024, he has taken over position of CEO of MVM CEEnergy Zrt.

Jefferson Edwards

Vice President, Shell Energy

Jefferson Edwards is Vice President in Shell Energy, accountable for fundamental analysis of global gas, LNG, power and low carbon energy markets. Shell Energy is responsible for the marketing and trading of gas, LNG, power and environmental products within Shell Plc. He leads a team of professionals located in Houston, London, the Hague, Dubai, Beijing and Singapore, focused on the analysis of global energy markets and sits on the leadership team of Shell LNG Marketing and Trading and Shell’s internal global energy forecasting leadership team. He is the Shell representative to the Governing Board of the Gastech conference and the Programme Committee of LNG2025.

Previously, he was General Manager for Shell Energy with responsibility for Shell’s global policy and advocacy efforts related to natural gas market development. Prior to that role, Mr. Edwards has held various commercial and strategy roles within Shell’s Exploration & Production and Integrated Gas businesses, based in London, the Hague and Singapore.
Prior to joining Shell, Mr. Edwards was Director of Asian Energy Research for Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA). He holds a MS in International Business Diplomacy from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., focused on energy security.

Andreas Guth

Secretary General, Eurogas

Andreas Guth is the Secretary General of Eurogas, a role he has held since September 2024.
With over 15 years of experience in EU affairs in Brussels, he has been at the forefront of policy advocacy in various fields.

In 2019, Andreas joined Eurogas, the leading association representing the gas industry in Europe, as the Policy Director. In this role, he was responsible for the coordination and implementation of the association’s policy work and advocacy strategy, including on all relevant aspects of the Green Deal, Fit for 55, and REPowerEU. Andreas works closely with Eurogas’ members to ensure that their collective voice is heard at European level and that they contribute to shaping the EU’s energy transition agenda.

Before joining Eurogas, Andreas worked for the biofuels industry, where he developed expertise in energy and climate policy. His experience in EU affairs covers a broad range of sectors, including energy, transport, trade and customs policy.

Andreas holds an MA in political science from the University of Maastricht, where he specialized in European integration and governance. He is passionate about contributing to the development of sustainable policies that support the EU’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

Lawrence Korb

Senior Advisor, U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources

Lawrence Korb is a Senior Advisor in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources covering European energy issues. He joined the State Department in 2009 and has served in Europe, China, and Latin America along with Washington, DC postings covering Europe. Prior to joining the Department, he was a corporate lawyer for nearly 10 years, working in New York and San Francisco. He graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Foreign Affairs and from Columbia Law School. He is married with two children.

Teodora Georgieva

Executive officer and Board Member, ICGB AD, Interconnector Greece Bulgaria

Teodora Georgieva has more than 20 years of experience as a strategic manager, leading significant projects in various economic sectors. Currently, Ms. Georgieva is the Executive Director of the Bulgarian side of the project company ICGB and is also a member of its Board of Directors. ICGB is responsible for the overall management and development of the gas pipeline between Greece and Bulgaria and will soon be an independent transmission system operator. 

From 2012 to 2014 Teodora Georgieva was Managing Director of Nabucco Bulgaria, and before that she worked at OMV Bulgaria for 13 years, 8 of which she was Managing Director of the company, holding cluster positions for Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Georgieva was the coordinator for Bulgaria of the European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT), in 2009 and 2010 she was awarded as Manager of the Year and is in the list of the top 10 Bulgarian managers. 

She graduated from the University of National and World Economy and has a master’s degree in Finance. Married, with two children

Captain Marc Nuytemans

Vice President - Europe, Excelerate Energy

Capt. Marc Nuytemans (°61) is currently Vice President Europe region at Excelerate Energy (www.excelerateenergy.com), a company quoted on the NYSE and a leader in integrated LNG solutions providing security of energy supply. Till April 2023 Marc was CEO of the Blauwe Cluster / Blue Cluster (www.blauwecluster.be) a maritime innovation hub mandated by the Flemish government with over 200 member companies + trade associations & knowledge institutes.

From January 2009 till November 2019 he was Managing Director of Exmar Shipmanagement N.V. and member of the executive committee of Exmar N.V. (www.exmar.be), a Belgian listed ship owning company. He lectures at the University of Antwerp (C-MAT www.c-mat.be) in shipping and shipping management since 2000. After an extensive career at sea he became fleet personnel manager at CMB nv in 1997. In 2000 he took up the position of Managing Director of the Royal Belgian Shipowners’ Association leading the revival of the Belgian register.

Capt. Marc Nuytemans also serves on the board of several companies and an international charity.

Franck Neel

Member of the Executive Board, OMV Petrom

Franck studied Energy at the University of Rouen and received an Engineer Degree and then followed a Master of Mechanical Engineering at Cranfield University in United Kingdom. Later on, he earned an Executive Degree from the London Business School. Franck spent 25 years working for the Group Engie. Thus, he started his career at Gaz de France in the engineering department for 7 years and then moved to the Marketing and Sales with different functions in different countries such as France, Czech Republic, Hungary, Netherlands, Italy and UK before joining OMV Petrom. He was appointed member of the OMV Petrom Executive Board as of July 1, 2018 and President of FPPG as of January 30, 2019.

Szabolcs I Ferencz

Chairman-CEO, FGSZ Natural Gas Transmission Ltd.

Szabolcs Ferencz is the Chairman-CEO of FGSZ Natural Gas Transmission Ltd. since February 2019.
Previously, he held the position of SVP MOL Group Corporate Affairs supervising international and domestic governmental relations for Regulatory and Public Affairs, Strategy Development and Corporate Communications. Beforehand, Mr. Ferencz was the CEO and Country Chairman of MOL Romania, a key MOL Group subsidiary. Between 2003 – 2009 he held the position of Vice President for Corporate Communications of MOL Group and was in charge of the overall communications activities of the fast growing Group.

Since 2015 Mr. Ferencz is the Chair of the National Committee of the World Petroleum Council. He is also member of the Advisory Board of the Regional Centre for Energy Policy Research Foundation. Mr. Ferencz is an Associate at the European Round Table for Industry since 2011. He is founding partner of the SEED School for Executive Education and Development based in Budapest.
Mr. Ferencz received his MA in Economics from the University of Regensburg and pursued postgraduate studies in political science.

John Shoobridge

VP LNG Origination, Cheniere

John has served as VP LNG Origination for Cheniere since 2015 and is responsible for developing long term LNG sales opportunities in the EMEA region. Prior to joining Cheniere, John worked for Shell for almost 15 years in the company’s Gas & Power, LNG supply & trading and Crude Oil trading units in South America, Asia, Europe and Africa. John holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the National University of Rosario, Argentina, and an MBA from the Macroeconomic Studies Centre of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Zoltán Áldott

Chair, European Board of the International Association of IOGP; Chairman of the Supervisory Board, MOL Plc.

Between 1990 and 1991, Zoltán Áldott was an associate at Creditum Financial Consulting Ltd. Afterwards, between 1992 and 1995, he held various positions at Eurocorp Financial Consulting Ltd. From 1995 to 1997, he was the Manager of MOL’s Privatisation Department and from 1997 until 1999, he was Director of Capital Markets. In 1999, Mr. Áldott served as Director of Strategy & Business Development. From November 2000, he acted as Chief Strategy Officer and then, since June 2001, as Group Chief Strategy Officer. He was the Executive Vice President of MOL Exploration & Production Division between September 2004 and June 2011. Zoltán Áldott acted as the President of INA Management Board between 1 April 2010 and 31 May 2018. Since 2001 til 2018 May he was a member of the MOL EB. As the Chairman of the Supervisory Board he is a permanent invitee to Board of Directors, Remuneration and Risk Management Committee and Sustainable Development Committee meetings.

Engr. Chichi Emenike

Acting Managing Director, Gas Asset Manager, Neconde Energy Limited; Council Member, Nigerian Gas Association

Engr. Chichi Emenike has over twenty six (26) years experience in the Oil and Gas Industry spanning across the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors. She holds a Bachelors in Engineering and an MBA in Oil & Gas Management from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen plus is a Fellow of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), a certified member with the Council for The Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) and a founding member Women In Energy Network (WIEN).
She started her early career in the Nigerian Oil & Gas industry as a Project Engineer with Exxon Mobil Nigeria in 1999 and is currently on OML42 in Nigeria in Neconde Energy Limited as the Acting Managing Director as well as the Gas Asset Manager where she is responsible for consolidating and increasing the Asset’s current production of Gas and Crude with a focus on workovers, drilling campaigns and facility uptime with KPOs of value optimization for growth and profitability. She was one of the key leads on the team which secured and signed a Finance, Technical and Services Agreement (FTSA) on OML42 in 2022 which will have investments and injection of financing into the development of the Asset over a fifteen (15) year period.
On the other hand with the Asset’s keen focus on Gas, she is also responsible for driving the company’s Gas business and positioning Neconde as a lead player for developing Gas supply in with the company’s strategic mandate. One of her core focus is around unlocking the Asset’s potential of over 3.8tcf of Gas reserves for increased value optimization for growth and profitability.
Apart from being involved in several technical projects along different parts of the value chain of the industry, she has been engaged in several Corporate Social Responsibility Projects, advocating inclusion and diversity and its relevance to business sustainability as well as serving on different Not-for profit organizations and NGOs. These include but are limited to limited to the Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) (Study Chair of its Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Group), Women in Energy Network (WIEN) as Vice President, Upstream, Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and others. She remains committed to actively creating opportunities especially for women in Oil and Gas projects whilst also providing Commercial, Technical and Financial advice for women who are seeking to actively participate in the Upstream Oil & Gas industry.

Vladimir Malinov

Executive Director and Member of the Management Board, Bulgartransgaz

Vladimir Malinov is the Executive Director and Member of the Management Board of the Bulgarian gas transmission system operator Bulgartransgaz since 29th of January 2025.

Mr. Malinov joined Bulgartransgaz as Head of Legal Division in 2010. He was responsible for regulatory affairs and was deeply involved in relations with EU institutions, the company’s TSO certification and unbundling and the implementation of NCs. From March 2018 until April 2024 he was the Executive Director of the company.

From April 2024 until January 2025 Mr. Malinov was the Minister of Energy in two consecutive Caretaker Governments of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Until his appointment as Caretaker Minister, he has been also a Member of the Board of Balkan Gas Hub from January 2019, a Member of the Board of Gastrade S.A. (the operator of the Alexandroupolis LNG Terminal) since January 2021 and a Member of the Board of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG) since January 2022.

Michael Thomadakis

Board Member, Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE); Strategy & Development Chief Officer, DESFA

Michael Thomadakis is the Strategy & Development Chief Officer of DESFA, since 2020. Formerly, he was the Vice Chairman and Member of the Board of RAE from 2005 to 2015, member of the BoR of ACER, the CEER General Assembly, the Board of MEDREG, the Board of Appeal of ACER and Chairman of the Investment Group of the Energy Charter. He has extensive experience in the development of the gas regulatory framework of the Greek gas market, and deeply involved in corresponding developments in South East Europe, especially in the regulatory framework for several gas infrastructure projects related to the Southern Gas Corridor. Started his carrier in DEPA, were he worked as the contractual administrator of the Gas Procurement contracts from Russia (pipeline) and Algeria (LNG), the LNG transportation contracts, the development of underground gas storage, the derivation of transportation tariffs and on the establishment of the Gas Distribution Companies in Greece. He is a Mechanical Engineer of NTU Athens with a PhD from the same University. He is the author of more than 40 scientific papers and reports and invited lecturer in many events of the energy industry worldwide.

Dániel Garai

CEO, CEEGEX Central Eastern European Gas Exchange Ltd.

Mr. Dániel Garai has been the CEO of CEEGEX, the Central Eastern European Gas Exchange Ltd. since July 2020. Mr Garai attained his Degrees at the Budapest Business School and University of Pécs. He has been working in the energy industry since 2005, fulfilling senior positions at FŐGÁZ Zrt. in Budapest, and RWE Supply & Trading Switzerland SA in Geneva, Switzerland. As of 2012, he was CFO and Member of the Board of Directors at MET Hungary and afterwards Business Development Director. From November 2019 until his appointment as CEO at CEEGEX, he was the advisor to the CEO of MAVIR Ltd., leading the company’s transformation program.

Ivan Fugaš

Managing Director, LNG Croatia

Graduated on the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering, University of Zagreb in 2006. During professional career, completed several professional training programs in the field of project management, gas equipment and pipelines, management of technological processes on the FSRU vessel and various safety processes of working with liquefied natural gas.

In the period 2002-2006, he completed a series of internships in Crosco – Integrated Drilling & Well Services Co, while from 2007 to 2020 he worked in Plinacro Ltd. – Croatian TSO in all positions: from trainee, pipeline engineer through division manager responsible for development to the director of the Gas Transport Department.

From 2020 he was Director of the Sector for Technical and Operational Affairs at LNG Hrvatska LLC. In 2023 he became Managing Director of the company.

Konstantinos Sifnaios

Vice President & Managing Director, Gastrade S.A.

Mr. Sifnaios started his professional career at Mobil Oil Hellas in 1987 as a Strategic Planning analyst. He continued in several positions within Sales and Marketing reaching the post of Sales Manager for South & Western Greece. He was then transferred to Mobil Oil International in London and Madrid where he assumed posts in supply and trading. In 1997 he moved to BP International, in Brussels, to work on the European restructuring of the company. He returned in Greece as General Commercial Sales Director for BP Greece (2000 – 2002) to then resume his international career within BP’s European supply chain till 2007. From June 2007 to the end of 2021, he worked in Copelouzos Group initially as New Projects Manager, gas sales Commercial Manager and then as Group Energy Director in the sector of Gas. He also managed the development of the Alexandroupolis LNG Terminal Project to its Final Investment Decision.
Since January 2022, when FID was taken on the Alexandroupolis LNG Project, he was appointed Managing Director of Gastrade, the owner and operator of the Terminal.

Mr. Sifnaios graduated from the school of Mathematics and Applied Sciences of the University of Athens having completed a special program on studies, methods and applications of Linear Programming and Network Flows. He went on to work as a research and faculty assistant at Columbia University, New York, U.S. where he received a Master of Science (MSc) in Operational Research and Applied Business Administration.

Mr. Sifnaios was born in Athens in 1960 and originates from the island of Lesvos. He speaks Greek, English, French and Spanish.

Lászlo Fritsch

Deputy CEO, MVM CEEnergy Zrt.

During more than 20 years spent in the oil and gas industry Mr. Laszlo Fritsch has gained extensive professional knowledge from various fields of the energy sector. He started his career at Shell Gas Hungary where his professional expertise has been broadened in various positions held in several European countries. Later he joined E.ON Gas Storage as CFO and from 2013 to 2020 he held the position of CEO and Chairman of the Board of Hungarian Gas Storage. In order to gain in-depth knowledge also in the technical operation Mr. Fritsch has successfully completed a reservoir engineering course in Houston. In 2020 he was appointed CEO of MVM CEEnergy (formerly Hungarian Gas Trade), now serves as Deputy CEO. With his extensive knowledge of the energy and natural gas industry, Mr. Fritsch actively contributes to the domestic and international development of the sector as the chairman of the Hydrocarbon Mining Section of the Hungarian Mining Association and a member of the International Gas Union (IGU).

Sotirios Bravos

Chief Officer, Commercial Services, DESFA

Mr. Sotirios Bravos is the Chief Officer of Commercial Services of DESFA. He has graduated from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a Diploma in Electrical Engineering and has a demonstrated working experience of over 30 years in the gas industry in Greece, in engineering, operations and commercial sectors. Mr. Bravos is a member of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE). His mother tongue is Greek, and he is fluent in English.

Eszter Szekeres

Chief Executive Officer, MET Hungary

Eszter Szekeres has been leading MET Central Europe Hungary since May 2024, which integrates the business units of MET Hungary Ltd. and E2 Hungary Ltd., and she also holds the position of CEO of MET Hungary Ltd. MET Central Europe Hungary is providing overall services to more than 5,500 business partners in the field of energy supply and energy efficiency.
Previously, Eszter Szekeres gained significant business and management experience as Executive Director of Wholesale and Portfolio Optimization at MET Central Europe, where she was responsible for managing the overall regional wholesale, pricing, position and portfolio management activities and coordinating the joint processes of MET Central Europe and MET International. Prior to this, she spent five years at MET Group’s headquarters in Switzerland, where she was involved in international business development projects and led the group’s risk management function.

Ion Sterian

Director General, Transgaz

The Director General of the National Gas Transmission Company TRANSGAZ, Ion Sterian, is a renowned name in the energy sector of Romania and the European Union as well as worldwide.

He joined the company in 2007 as a representative of Transgaz’ major shareholder, the Romanian State by the Ministry of Economy in the General Shareholders Assembly and further on, in 2013, he was appointed Chairman of the company’s Board of Administration and since 2017 he has been Director-General.

Ion Sterian graduated the Oil and Gas University of Ploiești, being specialized in well drilling and exploitation of oil and gas fields, and the Faculty of Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture within the University of Bucharest. He received a Master’s degree in management and a Master’s degree in management and rural development and completed training courses in International Relations, all of which award him the perfect profile to run a company like Transgaz.

He has professional expertise and background in both energy and corporate management and has held positions of responsibility in different key institutions of Romania. He was Executive Director of the Technical Division within the Autonomous Administration of the Brăila Free Zone, Executive Director of Technical Division of the Autonomous Administration of State Protocol Patrimony; In 2010, Ion Sterian also held the position of State Under-Secretary within the Ministry for Regional Development and Tourism.

Throughout his career, Ion Sterian developed and perfected his professional knowledge on security and corporate governance, international and diplomatic relations and financial management, having a substantial contribution to the development of the performant company he runs and to the effective implementation of the strategic projects under the assumed Administration Plan.

Under the close coordination of Ion Sterian, Transgaz has been implementing one of the largest and most important natural gas transmission infrastructure development plans in Romania over the past 20 years, with investment projects estimated at over 3.4 billion euro.

A charismatic and committed leader, an effervescent and positive personality, Ion Sterian has won the trust and respect of his national and international peers, of the EU, international and Romanian authorities, of the mass-media and of his over 4,100 employees.

As a recognition of his professional merits and managerial qualities, Mr. Ion Sterian received on his own behalf and on behalf of Transgaz, numbers of awards, diplomas and accolades, being invited to deliver presentations/speeches on topics specific to the energy sector, management and corporate governance, negotiations and financing related to complex and large-scale investment projects in national and European energy infrastructure, and other topics related to the prospects for sustainable development of the energy sector in Romania and Europe, energy diversification in Europe, digitization of the energy sector, etc.

Csilla Bartók

Head of Gas, Hydrogen and Retail Department, ACER (EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators)

Csilla BARTÓK joined ACER as Senior officer for Framework Guidelines and Network Codes for Gas in 2011. Since 2021 she was Gas Markets & Energy Retail Team Leader. In 2024 she became the Head of Gas, Hydrogen and Retail department.

Csilla is responsible for gas market regulation and monitoring, network code development and implementation, the emerging rules on hydrogen markets and energy retail markets with a focus on monitoring. Before joining ACER, Csilla worked at the European Commission’s DG Energy as policy officer, at the OECD as competition and trade analyst and at DG Competition as merger case handler.
Csilla holds master’s degrees in economics, international economics, and political sciences, as well as an executive MBA.

Ákos Krtiston

CEO, Hungarian Gas Storage

Mr. Kriston has become CEO since 1 July 2020. He has been deputy CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Hungarian Gas Storage since 1 Oct 2013. Previously, he worked for MVM Hungarian Electicity Plc. among others as Head of Business Development. Before joining MVM Group Mr. Kriston worked in financial advisory and audit for almost 10 years at Deloitte and KPMG both in Hungary and in Germany. Mr. Kriston holds an MSc. degree in Business Administration and graduated from Corvinus University, Budapest.

Gergely Molnár

Energy Analyst, International Energy Agency (IEA)

Gergely MOLNAR joined the International Energy Agency in August 2018, as a Gas Analyst in the Gas, Coal and Power Markets Division within the Directorate of Energy Markets and Security. The Division is responsible for the development of short- and medium-term market forecasts, and the publication of the Global Gas Security Review. Before joining the Agency, he held several positions in consulting and private research companies with a focus on European gas markets and gas infrastructure.

He holds a Master in International Energy from the Paris Institute of Political Sciences and graduated in International Affairs from the Corvinus University of Budapest.

Katalin Tamás

Head of LNG Advisory, MET Group

Katalin Tamás has been working in the gas industry for more than 15 years. She started her career at MOL, moving later to MET and supporting the downstream gas presence of the company in various roles, mainly in wholesale. Passionate about Central and Eastern European niche markets, she took a key role in building up the regasification positions of MET around Europe. Apart from being responsible for the regas capacity positions, Katalin is also managing spot and mid term Atlantic LNG transactions at MET Group.

Veselin Sinabov

CEO, Bulgargaz EAD

Veselin Sinabov is the CEO of Bulgargaz EAD. His career path began in 2012 as a Natural Gas Trading Expert at the company Overgas Inc. JSC. In 2015 Mr Sinabov continued his professional career at the natural gas transmission operator Bulgartransgaz EAD, rising from a specialist in the Gas Transmission Network Balancing Department to Director of the Commercial Services Directorate. In August 2022, he was appointed Director of Bulgargaz’s Gas Trading Directorate. Mr Sinabov was appointed CEO of Bulgargaz EAD in April 2024.

He has an MA degree in International Law from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). In 2013 he was awarded an MA degree in Management in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Rastislav Ňukovič

CEO, EUSTREAM

Rastislav Ňukovič studied at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Informatics at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. From 2000 to 2002, he completed postgraduate studies specializing in the gas industry at the Faculty of Environmental Technology at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague. His career in the gas industry began in 1998 in the Slovtransgas division of SPP, where he served as an IT systems administrator and later became the head of the Data Collection and Technical Support Department. From 2005 to 2008, he worked as the Director of Centralized Maintenance, and over the following four years, he served as the Director of Strategic Projects. Since July 1, 2014, he has been the CEO of EUSTREAM. He is a long-standing member of the Executive Committee of the Technical Association of the European Gas Industry (Marcogaz). Since September 2022, he has been serving as the President of the Slovak Gas and Oil Association (SPNZ).”

Mónika Zsigri

Head of Unit, DG ENER Task Force European Commission

Mónika Zsigri works for the European Commission as Head of Unit of Energy
Security and Safety. Previously she was Head of Unit in the Energy Platform Task
Force, focusing on joint purchasing of gas and international outreach in support
of the EU’s diversification strategy. She has experience of over a decade on
different aspects of EU energy policy, including the reduction of methane
emissions, LNG and storage, as well as energy security, energy infrastructure and
regional cooperation. In the past, she has worked in the area of cohesion policy
in support of the twin transition to a green and digital economy. Before joining
the Commission, as management consultant, she worked on different
assignments in the energy and telecommunications sectors helping clients
optimizing their business processes or developing successful business strategies.
Ms Zsigri holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration.

Tamás Pletser

EMEA Oil & Gas Analyst, Erste Group

Tamas Pletser is Erste Group’s Oil&Gas Equity Analyst covering EMEA stock markets. Pletser prepares research papers for Erste institutional and retail equity investors and help to select oil&gas investments as a sell-side analyst. The covered equities include PGNiG, PKN Orlen and Lotos Group from Poland, OMV from Austria, Romgaz and OMV Petrom from Romania, NIS from Serbia, Tupras, Petkim and Aygaz from Turkey. Pletser had started oil&gas research since 2000. He is also a CFA charterholder since 2002. Besides his main activities, he regularly writes, speaks and writes interviews about the European oil and gas markets and the development of the global crude oil prices.

Claudia Patricolo

Host of the Budapest LNG Summit

Trained as a journalist in Italy, she worked for different media outlets covering foreign policy, business, investments and macro-economy. After starting her career in Rome she moved to Paris, where she worked at Le Monde. The she covered the CEE region as Deputy Editor of Emerging Europe, UK-based news, intelligence and community platform. Claudia Patricolo was the Editor-in-chief of CEENERGYNEWS, the only English-speaking news portal entirely dedicated to the energy industry in Central and Eastern Europe.