Mr. Nektarios Farmakis

Nektarios Farmakis was born in 1980 and grew up in Agrinio. He holds a law degree, as well as a Law Master degree majoring in Civil Procedural Law from the Democritus University of Thrace. He has been practicing law since 2006, as a member of the Agrinio Bar Association and a lawyer at the Supreme Court. Since 2013, Nektarios Farmakis is an accredited Ombudsman from the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights.

In 2010 local elections he was first elected Regional Councilor in Etoloakarnania at the age of 30. In June 2019, Nektarios Farmakis was elected Regional Governor of Western Greece, with the party “Everything from the beginning” and took office on September 1st of the same year.

He speaks two foreign languages, English and German and is married to the Lawyer Evi Chr. Pappa. Τhey have a daughter and a son.

Dr. Dimitris Skuras

Dimitris Skuras is the Vice Rector of Economics and Planning at the University of Patras and Professor at the Department of Economics. He studied at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Universities of Aberdeen and Essex in the United Kingdom.

His research is in natural resources and environmental economics, particularly analysing the impact of agricultural and rural development policies on GHG emissions, on the use and quality of water and soil resources, and on biodiversity and ecosystem services. His work has appeared in over 100 articles, studies and books. In 2008 his work was awarded the Academy of Athens award in the “Class of Ethical and Political Sciences”. He has developed programs and studies for the European Union, the OECD, the United Nations (FAO) and many government agencies in Europe, Latin America and Africa.

Mr. Giannis Balakakis

He is a forward thinking and results oriented strategist specialized in event management, marketing, BtL communication and hospitality industry. In his career, Giannis has been appointed as Planning | Product | General Manager & Chief Executive Officer in various Greek and International firms.

He currently serves as President of the Board at Geo Routes Institute, Chair of the Organizing Committees at the Balkans & Black Sea Forum and AgriBusiness Forum and Chair of the leading event & destination management company Gnomon Performance.

Giannis has repeatedly leaded large scale projects and events around the globe, has been founder and initiator leading socioeconomic platforms, and has been regular speaker to international fora related with business strategies, innovation, culture-tourism-development and policy strategies.

He has served as member of the BoD of the Association of Chief Executive Officers Greece, former VP of the Society of Incentive Travel Executives, member of Meeting Professionals International, member of UN Global Compact and other relevant organizations.

Giannis has financial background (banking marketing & management), he speaks Greek (mother tongue), English and French, and has excellent skills in planning, negotiations and cross-cultural communication as a result of his extensive experience in more than 80 countries around the world.