Conference speakers

Sergii Feofilov  – Director General of UkrAgroConsult, Ph.D. in Economics.
Founder of UkrAgroConsult – the first Ukrainian consulting agency specialized in agricultural sector of the Black Sea region (marking its 30-year anniversary in 2024).

Sergii Feofilov has vast expertise in analysis of agricultural market of the Black Sea region and Eastern Europe. He has broad international contacts in trading, banking and investment spheres, is a recognized expert and speaker at the major international agri conferences.

UkrAgroConsult serves global agribusiness operators from 50+ countries worldwide, delivering quality market information and analysis for effective decision making. The company provides analytical reports on grain and oilseed markets, in-depth agri market research, investment consulting, business planning, is an organizer of the major international conferences on grains and oilseeds.

Company’s services are trusted by the leading international agricultural producers, traders, agri holdings and farms, processors, investors, banks etc. UkrAgroConsult cooperates with the major global and intergovernmental organizations in agricultural sector.

UkrAgroConsult annually holds major international agri conferences in the Black Sea region and Europe, in particular such events as BLACK SEA GRAIN, BLACK SEA OIL TRADE, EURO GRAIN HUB Exchange & Forum and other.

A leading economist with extensive experience and widely recognized expertise in Ukraine, he is regarded as one of the country’s top specialists in macroeconomic analysis and forecasting.

Volodymyr’s professional path is inextricably linked with the NIBULON company, where he has been working for over 11 years. He has extensive work experience in the field of establishing foreign economic relations and wholesale trade of grain crops. 

With the active participation of Volodymyr’s team, significant transformations took place in the company: were implemented the best market practices from the point of view of trade and a new risk management system, systematized sales and procurement work. Also, under the leadership of Volodymyr, the trading division participated in the goals formation and investment program strategy for the construction of elevators and the river fleet development. 

In February 2023, Volodymyr was appointed Director on Trade of NIBULON. In this position, he is responsible for commercial activities in terms of the company’s trading activity, as well as the purchase of agricultural products. 

Andriy Tsehelyk – CEO of biotech company Enzym Group. With over 20 years in the company, he built its financial system, guided strategic investments, and now leads transformation. Since 2018 he has steered Enzym Group through crises, ensuring resilience, stability, and growth even during the full-scale war.

Ukrainian politician, business leader, and expert in agri-food systems, agricultural policy, AgTech, and sustainable agriculture. Holds a Doctorate in Agricultural Policy from Humboldt University of Berlin. She has more than 13 years of experience in Germany’s agricultural sector. After returning to Ukraine in 2016, she worked on an agricultural trade project within the framework of the DCFTA agreement.

From 2016 to 2019, she served as Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and later as Acting Minister. She led Epicenter Agro, worked as an advisor on food security and trade, and served as Ambassador-at-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Since 2024, she has headed the agri-food team of the Ukraine Facility Platform, and since 2026 she has been leading the APD Ukraine project — the German-Ukrainian Agricultural Policy Dialogue. She is actively involved in EU initiatives and institutional cooperation.

Maksym Kharchenko has been working at UkrAgroConsult since 2017. The main activity is related to the analysis of the logistics market in the Black Sea region.

He is the author of many studies on domestic and export logistics of Ukraine. Maksym also focuses on the global grain and oilseeds market analysis, and is in charge of the Vessel Lineups product development.

Julia Garkavenko is a leading expert at UkrAgroConsult company with 25 years of experience in research and consultancy for Ukrainian and international companies and agencies focusing on the oil and fat industry. Since 2015, she has headed the Market Analytics Department, which deals with the agricultural market analysis and forecasting for Ukraine and the countries of the Black Sea and Danube regions.

Julia is the author and editor-in-chief of the specialized weekly Black Sea & Danube Oilseed Report, which covers the markets of Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Her expertise has been published in a number of Ukrainian and international journals. She has graduated from the European University of Management and Business, specializing in Finance and Credit, in 1999.

Anton Zhemerdieiev has extensive experience in various areas of agriculture: public administration (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ministry of Agrarian Industry and Food), international trade (CHS), infrastructure (Maxigrain terminal) and production (Astarta, TAS Agro).

He has successful experience in managing trade in grains, oilseeds and processed products, port transshipment, oilseed processing and road/rail/sea logistics.

He graduated from the Kyiv National University of Trade and Economics (two master’s degrees in Commodity Research and Commercial Business and Commercial Law).

A trader and trading manager with over 27 years experience in the cash and future markets within the grains and oilseeds sector, having traded from offices in Johannesburg, Paris and Geneva and having operational experience within the Black Sea origination markets, Southern Africa and North Africa/Middle East.

As Head of Grains for Europe and Black Sea and as Head of the Black Sea countries at LDC and as Global Head of Trading for Sierentz, he has grown and managed large scale origination teams, globally marketed and distributed these originated volumes and managed and led infrastructure and asset developments and projects within the origination supply chain.

As a Strategic Consultant he works with companies within the export supply chain and at the demand base on trading strategies, analysis, risk management and business growth strategies.

Manager Procurement and Trade at Poweroil / Getreide AG (since May 2025), responsible for rapeseed procurement and trading to supply the Rostock oil mill with an annual crush of around 1 million tonnes. Previously, Jobst spent four years in the German domestic agricultural trade after starting his career with an apprenticeship at Toepfer International (ADM Germany), followed by a Master’s degree in Agribusiness.

Agroconsult’s Senior Market Analyst for grain and oilseed complex.

– Extensive experience as a head trader for corn, soybeans, and derivatives, with 20 years of experience on the trading desks of agricultural commodity firms.

– Depth knowledge of hedging mechanisms and commercial/logistical arbitrage through futures, options, and swaps trading on domestic and international exchanges, as well as in physical markets.

– Graduated in Agronomy from UNESP/Botucatu, with postgraduate studies in Agribusiness Management at FGV/São Paulo and Strategic Management at Fundação Dom Cabral.

Gözde Nur Karagöz is a commodity broker with seven years of experience in soft agricultural markets, specializing in Black Sea trade flows. She combines market insight with macroeconomic awareness and supply chain strategy to support structured trade execution and long-term partnerships. She leads Solterra Commodity Brokerage from Dubai, facilitating transparent and efficient trade flows across origin and destination markets.

Georgii Geletukha – Head of the Board, Bioenergy Association of Ukraine (UABIO), which brings together producers of biogas and biomethane. He is actively involved in improving the regulatory framework and preparing feasibility studies for the construction of biomethane plants. Doctor of Technical Sciences. Graduated from Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Faculty of Power Engineering.

Since 2010, Valentyna has been a Partner of INTELEVRAZ Investment Company, whose mission is to attract investments to Ukraine. She is also a Partner of the Strong Energy Investment Fund, which was created to jointly invest in solar power plants for “active consumers”, as well as develop solar and wind power plants.

She has more than 20 years of experience in investment transactions, M&A, business and real estate purchase and sale, investment and financing in the private and public sectors, real estate management, and has developed unique author’s expertise in determining the market value of assets in the agricultural sector and the investment attractiveness of real estate.

Serhii Kravchuk has been CEO of the Gals Agro agricultural holding since 1997. The company covers all stages of production, from cultivation to processing and renewable energy generation. Serhii received his engineering degree from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Senior Executive MBA and Doctor of Business Administration degrees from the MIM Business School. He studied at the Ukrainian Corporate Governance Academy and DYB Advisory Board.

Liza Malyshko is a senior expert at UkrAgroConsult with over 20 years of professional experience. She has headed the agricultural markets and processed products research department since 2015.

Mrs. Malyshko specializes in researching the grain industry of Ukraine and the Black Sea region, with a focus on key grain market trends analysis, crop and trade forecasts, grain supply and demand balances.

As an expert in agricultural analytics, she has been ingaged in the conduct of studies for major international agencies and banks (FAO, EBRD, etc.), trading companies, as well as in the business plans drafting. She has numerous publications in Ukrainian and foreign journals.

Liza graduated from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in 1996.

Vitaliy Kyslenko heads the following areas and directs the activities of the relevant structural units:

• Marketing Department
• Sales Department

He has over 30 years of experience in banking and corporate sectors, specializing in trade and project finance, working with corporate clients, product development, and integrated sales systems. He worked as a consultant for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Finance Corporation, implementing projects to create and develop trade finance lines in Central Asian banks.

In 2021–2023, he was an advisor to ECA and facilitated the insurance of the largest export credit on the market, as well as systematically worked with Ukrainian exporters on attracting and consulting support. Previously, he held management positions at Industrialbank, Alfa-Bank (Sense Bank), Ukrsibbank BNP Paribas Group, and Raiffeisen Bank Aval, where he was responsible for corporate business, trade finance, product development, and key client relations.

Svitlana Kupreeva is an analyst at UkrAgroConsult, where she has been working for over 5 years. Since 2016, she has specialized in the oilseeds and vegetable oil markets of Ukraine and the countries of the Black Sea region. Svitlana is responsible for collecting and analyzing operative information, price monitoring, harvest forecasts, S&D balances.

Author and editor of the specialized weekly edition “Black Sea Oil + CIS” (Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Belarus).

Svitlana has over 18 years of experience in analysis and forecasting, including more than 5 years in the agricultural market of Ukraine and the CIS countries, as well as many publications in Ukrainian and foreign publications.

Svitlana graduated from Donetsk State University with a degree in Finance (1999).

Margaryta Stepanova – Head of the Department of Geoinformation Technologies for Management and Economic Research at the Institute of Climate-Oriented Agriculture of the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine. Candidate of Economic Sciences. Honored Worker of Agriculture of Ukraine. Main areas of work:

• methodological aspects of the formation and implementation of an ecologically balanced model of economic development of the agricultural sector and rural areas in the irrigation zone in southern Ukraine
• analysis and implementation of digital innovations
• climate adaptation and sustainability strategy, artificial intelligence in agribusiness