Mr. Alexandros Chrysafis

Alexandros Athanasiou Chrysafis was born in Serres in 1962. He graduated from the Higher School of Economics and Business Sciences (1985) and completed his Master’s Degree in Social Science at the Faculty of Hellenic Open University, specialized in “Mergers and Business Conversions”.

Since 1988, he has worked as a freelance professional in the field of corporate accounting and tax support and is Chairman of the Board of Directors at Logistiki S.A. He has been an auditor in dozens of anonymous and municipal companies and has long experience in carrying out researches and development projects.

He has participated in a number of committees and councils and he has been a speaker at various scientific conferences and forums, while during the period 2002-2006 he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Serres Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Grigoris Tasios

Since 1987, he’s co-owner of the Hotel PHILOXENIA BUNGALOWS 3* – Psakoudia Halkidiki, Greece (www.philoxenianet.gr)

  • President of Hellenic Hotel Federation since November 2017
  • President of Halkidiki Tourism Organization, a non-profit organization (official promotional body of Halkidiki) since 2011
  • President of Halkidiki Hotel Association since 2009 (member since 2003)
  • 1st Vice President of the Board of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) since November 2017
  • Member of the Monitoring Committee NSRF 2007-2013 and NSRF 2014-2020 for the Region of Central Macedonia
  • Member at the following Boards based in Athens: Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) from January 2013 to January 2015, Hellenic Chamber of Hotels since 2010, to the position of the General Secretary since 2015, Research Institute for Tourism since 2013
  • Member of the Board of the Greek Tourism Confederation (SETE) since 2012

Graduate School of Tourism Administration 1994

Mr. Tassos Mantagaris

Tassos Mantagaris is a Sector Expert in the Strategy & Analysis Sector of the Small Business Segment General Division in Eurobank. The Segment serves enterprises with turnover up to €5 mio, aiming at a holistic approach towards entrepreneurship, by creating tailored solutions to address sector or segment-specific needs for development and everyday transactions.

Tassos has been working in Eurobank since 2008, having held positions of responsibility serving SME’s.  As of 2016 he holds the position of Sector Expert, analyzing business sectors and developing tailor made solutions to match their needs.

He was born in 1982 in Athens. He holds two BSc degrees, in Economic and Regional Development and in Sociology from Panteion University, as well as an MBA from the University of Piraeus.

He is the father of two children.

Mr. Yanko Ivanov

Assoc. Prof., PhD, Yanko Ivanov is a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, responsible for animal breeding, animal health and policies in the agro-food chain. His whole activity is closely connected to the prevention, control and eradication of cross-border diseases on animals and zoonosis on a national and international level. He has subsequently held the positions: Head of the National Reference Laboratory for Foot-and-Mouth Diseases and Exotic Animal Diseases, Director of the National Research Veterinary Medical Institute, Deputy Director General and General Director of the Veterinary Service of Bulgaria and Chief Veterinary Inspector of Bulgaria.

He is a part-time lecturer at the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Forestry in Sofia. From 1995 to 2001, he was a member of the FAO Science Group of the European Commission for the control of foot-and-mouth disease and a member of the Standing Technical Committee and later on a member of the Executive Committee and a Vice-President of this committee. As a FAO expert, he was on many missions in various countries: China, Mongolia, Thailand, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and others. He was a FAO regional coordinator for the Balkan peninsula regarding avian influenza.

He has managed projects that were funded by the EU for the eradication of swine fever and rabies in the Republic of Serbia, of avian influenza in the Republic of Turkey and for the establishment of the Veterinary Information System of the Republic of Serbia.

He speaks English, Russian and Serbian.

He is married and has two children.

Mr. Dimitris Tasioulas

Born and raised in Thessaloniki with roots as far as Eastern Romylia and Pontus. A Balkan enriched by the influence of Peloponnese. Inspirer and key creators of a culinary project that loved by the public and fascinated New York Times Sebrico’ That first “push” at Frangon  Road in Thessaloniki,  had led his step to the next destination called Thria, located on Maria Callas Street 1. Chef Ambassador of the City of Thessaloniki for 2018. London’s Sunday Times traveller magazine gave the restaurant the title of gourmand’s destination in the 2019 issue.

‘The roots of my kitchen lie in the cuisines of Jewish, Slavs, Ottomans, Izmir and Pontus. My ambition is to deconstruct and reconstitute the culinary tradition of the place in a modern gastronomic proposal that expresses and matures in this city. Materials and traditions from the Mediterranean basin blend in with innovative techniques and bold ideas to bring a piece of the history of the future to today’s desires. ‘

Ms. Fotini Αrampatzi

Foteini Arampatzi was born in the Greek town of Serres on May 17, 1974. She is a graduate of the Law School of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki and holds a post-graduate degree (MBA) in Business Administration from the University of Macedonia, Greece. Moreover, she attended study courses in Political Science and e-Business at LSE.

She worked as journalist and TV producer in the News Agency of the European Commission in Brussels (1997-1998) and as reporter/producer in Mega, Antenna, Star, Alpha, Alter and ERT-3 Greek TV channels. In September 1998 she set up DIKTYO S.A., a regional information TV channel in Serres, which she directed until 2012. She has taken part in numerous European conferences as Media representative and in journalist delegations accompanying Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Hellenic Republic. Furthermore, she has served over a number of years as main organizer of social intervention campaigns of a charitable, cultural and environmental nature.

In May 2012 she ran for the first time as candidate with the Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy) party and was elected Member of the Greek Parliament. Since then, she has been elected with the same party for consecutive terms up to this day. On July 9, 2019 she was appointed Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Food by the newly elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

From March 2015 to February 2016 and from February 2017 to July 2019 she served as Head of Section for Rural Development and Food, and from February 2016 to January 2017 as Head of Section for Tourism of the Nea Dimokratia party.  From 2017 to 2019 she represented the Nea Dimokratia party in European Inter-Parliamentary Conferences as Head of Section for Rural Development and Food, expressing the positions of her party, among other subjects, on the new CAP.

She has been a member of the following Committees : the Permanent Committee on Production and Trade, the Committee on European Affairs, the Special Permanent Committee on Diaspora Hellenism, the Committee on the Statutes of the Parliament, and the Committee on French-speaking Communities. Finally, she was a member of the 11-member-strong Committee of the Nea Dimokratia party on the Revision of the Constitution in 2014.

She speaks English, French and Italian.

Dr. Kostas Karantininis

Kostas Karantininis, was born in Trikala Imathia, Greece, where he farmed for several years. He obtained his bachelor of Law and Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and his MSC and PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He has been visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, USA. Prior to joining the University of Copenhagen in 1997, and the SLU in 2007, he was with the University of Wageningen, The Netherlands, and Panteion University, Greece. He is also affiliated faculty at MAICh, and serves at the Graduate Board of the University of Perugia, Italy. He has supervised numerous graduate MSC and PhD students, and has taught at Universities in The USA; Canada, Brazil, China, Africa, Spain, Greece. He has published and served at the editorial boards of international academic Journals. His main academic interest is the applied microeconomics, econometrics, and economic development. His research focuses on the economics of organizations and international agribusiness and cooperatives, with applications in the EU, Scandinavia, Greece, and Africa. His book “A new paradigm for Greek Agriculture” was published by Palgrave-MacMillan, 2017.

Dr. George Zalidis

George Zalidis graduated from the Agronomy Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with doctoral studies at the Department of Soil Science and postdoctoral studies in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering Department at the State University of Michigan US.

Today, he is the  Director of the Laboratory of Remote Sensing, Spectroscopy and Geographical Information Systems, and member of the Laboratory of Applied Soil Sciences at the Department of Agriculture of the School of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is also the  Scientific Coordinator of Interbalkan Environment Center (i-BEC) since 2007.

His research focuses on issues of quality and restoration of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the use of Earth observation data (space and terrestrial) in the  Societal Benefit Areas, the OECD indicators of sustainable development and the use of spectral data in the monitoring of agricultural ecosystems and natural terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

 

CURRENT POSITION

  • Professor of Pollution and Soil Degradation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Land Reclamation Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Laboratory of Applied Soil Science.
  • Director of the Laboratory of Remote Sensing, Spectroscopy and G.I.S., Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture.
  • Member of the Laboratory of Applied Soil Science. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture.
  • Scientific Director, Interbalkan Environment Center (I-BEC)
  • Member, Hellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency (HQA) Council
  • Representative of the Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Rural Development and Food at the international Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) of GEO.

Dr. Vasilis Vasiliou

Dr. Vasiliou received his BSc in Chemistry (1983) and PhD in Biochemical Pharmacology (1988) from the University of Ioannina, Greece. He then trained as a Fogarty Fellow in gene-environment interactions, molecular toxicology and pharmacogenetics at the Department of Environmental Health in the College of Medicine at the University of Cincinnati (1991-1995). In 1996, he joined the faculty of the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy where he rose through the ranks to become Professor and Director of the Toxicology Graduate Program. In July 2014, he joined the faculty of Yale University in his new position.

Professor Vasiliou has established an internationally recognized research program that has been continuously funded by several USA federal agencies such as NEI/NIH, NIAAA/NIH and NIH/NIEHS since 1997. His research interests include mechanisms of cellular responses to environmental stress, gene-environment interactions, alcohol –induced tissue injury, pharmacogenetics and his laboratory studies metabolic diseases including obesity and diabetes, and cancer. Dr. Vasiliou has published over 190 papers and edited three books on Alcohol and Cancer. He has trained over twenty five doctoral and post-doctoral students. Dr. Vasiliou is the editor of Human Genomics.

Prof. Vasiliou along with Dr. Tassos C. Kyriakides has been establishing The Yale Olive Sciences and Health Institute. This Institute’s mission is to facilitate and coordinate rigorous study, robust research, and creative interdisciplinary education and activities related to the olive tree and its products. The concept and mission of the Institute has been widely supported and endorsed by over 70 international and national academic, research and private entities working in the field.

Ms. Effie Kokoreli

Effie believes in the power of new ideas. Undertakes strategic projects and manages to successfully accomplish them in a way that fits the nature and the recourses of the organization. Persistent yet patient, Effie manages to effectively coordinate professionals from different areas towards a common goal. Identifies new ways of business, embracing change as the necessary element of an organization to move forward and meet the demands of the market.

INTERAMERICAN S.A, 1983 to present

  • Head of Agricultural and Bank Assurance
  • Develops annual business plans and ensure that align and fully support company’s strategic goals.
  • Participates in Product, IT and Sales committee of the organization
  • Maintains bancassurance partnerships of the organization and evolve new ways of business
  • Actively involves in the design of the Marketing plan to support the partnerships
  • Leads the Agricultural project
  • Responsible for the creation of Agricultural products
  • Establishes new partnerships with companies from the Agricultural sector and bank sector
  • Designs and performs training for the insurance intermediates for Agricultural sector

Head of Bank Assurance, 2008-20018

  • Develops annual business plans in cooperation with the banks and ensure for their timely and successful delivery
  • Participates in Product, IT and Sales committee of the organization
  • Maintains bancassurance partnerships of the organization and evolve new ways of business
  • Actively involves in the design of the Marketing plan to support the partnerships
  • Establishes new partnerships with banks
  • Responsible for the analysis of all customer segments’ product needs, as well as for the design, development and promotion of Bancassurance products
  • Successfully introduces Interamerican’s ‘Anytime’ offering to the Bank’s branches and customers. Achieved a 500% annual increase in Car Insurance production and 200% in health insurance production

Bank Assurance Account Manager, 2007-2008

  • Monitoring annual business plans and ensures that aligns and fully supports company’s strategic goals
  • Designs and performs training for the bank employees
  • Support bancassurance partnership
  • Actively involves in the design of the Marketing plan to support the bancassurance partnership
  • Participates in projects for increasing bancassurance volumes and business
  • Monitors sales performance

Corporate customers’ executive, 2005-2007

  • Responsible for managing the underwriting process
  • Customer service and after sales support
  • Manages the insurance intermediate of corporate customers

Education

  • Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers / CNAM – Bachelor, Banking & Insurance
  • Harvard Business Publishing – Stepping Up to Management
  • George College – Annual Public Relations Department