Dieter Knittel is Head of International Real Estate Finance for Central and Eastern Europe at pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank. Dieter is responsible for the bank’s lending portfolio in the region. The regional focus is on Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Dieter has been active in the CEE market for more than twenty years, including five years based in Warsaw as Head of Credit and Senior Risk Management.

With over 20 years of commercial property experience, György Lindwurm is VP of Finance of the industrial developer NIPÜF Group with a focus on the financial and commercial procedures of the company and the real estate projects. He supervises the strategic and business planning, project financing, financial controlling processes of the company.

Between 2008 and 2015, György was Associate Director at DTZ and Cushman&Wakefield Property Advisors with a focus on capital markets and valuations in Budapest. He provided investment consultancy services to clients, which included the coordination of the entire transaction process. He conducted due diligence, research and market analysis for influential players in the Hungarian property market, including local and international developers, investors and banks. Before that, György assumed the role of Head of Valuations at DTZ.

Prior to joining DTZ in 2004, György worked for the developer Wallis Real Estate (WING), where he carried out the financial reporting (including the construction, the property management and the leasing process) to the shareholders and the financing bank.

He has expertise in coordinating financial processes, compiling business plans and strategies, bank financing, financial reporting, real estate valuation and investment consultancy, analyzing cash flows, reviewing lease agreements and understanding how various factors affect value to the tenants, the landlord and the purchaser.

He is member of the RICS since 2009.

Zsolt Berényi has more than two decades of experience in the development of commercial and residential real estates.

At GTC he is responsible for the company’s existing and new developments, as well as for maintaining contact with authorities and business partners.

Zsolt leads the team of group development consisting of twelve people in the CEE.

– Zsolt Berényi had worked for White Star (formerly AIG/Lincoln) for almost 11 years, where he participated in and managed the development of IP West, Haller Gardens and The Quadrum office buildings. He also led the development and transformation of Dean’s College (a 420-bed dormitory), Kempinski Hotel, the entire Immofinanz and Heitman portfolio, among others.

– After that, he managed the office and infrastructure development department at Property Market for nearly three years, including 14 office buildings and the MOL high rise building.

– After that, he worked at HB Reavis for nearly 4 years, where he was responsible for acquisitions and developments in Hungary, including Hungary’s largest-scale investment, AGORA.

In addition to office buildings, Zsolt’s extensive experience also covers the development of retail projects, student hostels and 5-star hotels, from the licensing phase through construction to handover.

The value of the projects developed under Zsolt’s leadership in the last 20 years was between 0.1 and 1 000 million euros.

He is an architectural engineer, and between 2006 and 2013 he was a guest lecturer at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Peter Noack is co-founder of ZEITGEIST Asset Management. Prior to ZEITGEIST, Peter worked in institutional real estate in Germany, Central Eastern Europe and Turkey for HOCHTIEF Development and Rödl & Partner in Germany and Czech Republic. He is registered as licenced attorney at law in Germany and Czech Republic and holds a Law degree from Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.

Eva graduated with an MsC from the prestigious Corvinus University in Budapest and she has over 20 years of experience in real estate financing. She spent seven years covering the Hungarian market where she partnered with well known international developers and investors to execute large deals. Upon her relocation to Vienna, Eva worked on various significant CEE and SEE projects covered by the UniCredit Group, including Turkey, Russia, Ukraine. She has extensive experience with a broad range of real estate financing transactions.

Mr. El Al, CEO of AFI Europe Serbia, is part of the team that established AFI Serbia’s real estate activities
as impressive business portfolio which has the most successful projects like Airport City – the first business
park in Serbia and Skyline Belgrade project – future landmark of Belgrade and Business Garden.
In the capacity of CEO of all these projects Mr. El Al continued developing and marketing exceptional real
estate projects bringing new opportunities to local market such as future AFI City Zmaj and new concept
of Skyline AFI Home.
A graduate of the Technion University in Haifa, Israel, with a BSc in civil engineer and MBA of London
School of Commerce, Mr. El Al gained vast international experience in real estate development project
management and construction as well as managing important high scale investment in Belgrade and the
region.
During more than twenty years of his international career he worked in Africa/Nigeria, Israel and later,
since 2003 in Serbia. As a manager with exceptional rate of success, he became an expert on developing
big scale real estate projects on Serbian market.

Bojan is a Country Manager within Coreside, an international associate office of Savills PLC, one of the global leaders in providing real-estate services with a presence in 60 countries around the world and more than 700 offices. He manages and coordinates Coreside office since 2021 and has extensive real estate knowledge, particularly in the commercial RE market. He combines this experience with a particular focus on every client’s business needs.

He joined Coreside from the position of Regional Head of the Office Department, in  Serbian branch of Cushman & Wakefield Group. Before that Bojan was a member of another global real-estate company, CBRE, where he had started his carreer and spent 12 years, more than half on top management positions.

Bojan career spans over 15 years in which he was responsible for some of the largest transactions on the market, sales transaction valued over €140 million, and closed more than 175 000 sqm of lease transactions.

As Head of Treasury Europe & Capital Markets, Christian Nickels-Teske is responsible for the negotiation and structuring of secured and unsecured financings for Prologis and its joint venture partnerships in Europe.

In addition, Christian is arranging public capital market offerings, Bond issuances as well as executing derivative hedging instruments on behalf of the company.

Christian has extensive experience in structuring Mergers & Acquisitions as well as development and mezzanine financings, portfolio and cross-border (Pan-European) facility structuring.

Milovan Novakovic joined Colliers International in 2007 and has started as an ICAS Officer.
In 2009 took the role of Senior office representatie and was coordinating all activities of the Montenegrinoffice together with SEE Regional director.
At the end of 2010, officially becomes General Manager of Colliers International, Montenegro.
Specialized in Real Estate Management Services and has successfully undertaken different type of investment advisory studies related to all types of property, such as hotels & resorts, industrial premises, office & retail blocks, land parcels and residential properties and was directly involved in all big projects that Colliers has done in Montenegro. Certified appraiser and LEED qualified. Currently President of the Board of Directors of the Green Building Council of Montenegro
and Colliers is the Co-Founder of that Organization. From December 2014 member of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
Business and Educational Background Has graduated at the Faculty of
Economics in Podgorica and before joining Colliers
International worked as Computer Designer, Research Assistant, and Advisor for
Marketing, Financial Officer, Marketing Manager and free
entrepreneur.
Community Involvement Through activities of GBC Montenegro, which founder he is, educating society how important is to have balance between ecology, society and economy.

Mr. Szenkurök graduated at Vienna University of Business Administration (WU-Wien) and postgraduated at the Danube University in Krems in Austria.

He is working in the financial service industry sector for more than 25 years. Since 20 years he was operating in various management functions and supervisory boards positions in the CEE region.

Since 2012 he is heading the constantly expanding Oberbank Hungary and Slovakia. Oberbank has a strong focus and competence in hotel & tourism finance.

Zinaida Onczay-Vojnar has been working as a real estate professional for nearly 20 years. With a base in Budapest, but active on other international markets, mainly in the CEE, she has been running her own business activates and projects since 2018 having joined Considero Investments as Partner, Head of Real Estate, a boutique corporate and finance advisory, focused on small/mid-cap transactions, sale and buy side mandates, and diverse small-cap investments. Prior to that, she held numerous senior positions working at HB Reavis, AXA Real Estate Investment Managers in Paris, Orco Property Group, and GTC Hungary. She also worked as an advisor on AEW’s CEE portfolio. She started her career as marketing and leasing manager at Bank Center and of the CEE Portfolio owned by the State of Washington Pension Fund

Mr. Barta is responsible for International Relations as senior parlamentary advisor at the National Council for Sustainable Development Hungary. Further, he is the Founding Partner of Greenbors Consulting Ltd, focusing on sustainability strategy developments, ESG, EU Taxonomy, CO2 strategies and sustainable urbanisation issues. Zsombor is President of the Hungary Green Building Council.

Zsombor’s principal role is to advise clients on M&A transactions, to manage environmental due diligence projects, to focus on complex environmental & sustainability procedures (EIA, IPPC) and to conduct accredited green building certifications (BREEAM, LEED, WELL, EDGE). He is working on the adaptation of the international green building schemes in Central Europe. Zsombor conducted numerous Green Building & sustainability projects throughout Europe and Asia. He is also RICS member since June 2013.

Zsombor also has experience with implementing and managing ISO14001 and Environmental Management Systems, developing complex sustainability appraisals and frameworks, including smart city and mega event sustainability startegies.

Dr. Manfred Wiltschnigg has been successfully active in real estate management for more than 25
years in Austria and the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region.  With his valuable expertise serving
in senior executive roles and on numerous advisory boards, Dr. Wiltschnigg has unique experience in
the commercial real estate sector.
After working as Managing Partner of Generali Immobilien AG, Vienna, he served as Regional
Director for Austria and the CEE for Oppenheim Immobilien KAG, Wiesbaden, one of the leading
German real estate special fund managers, and built up the entire region.  Following that, he
assumed responsibility for Austria and the CEE for IVG Immobilien AG, Bonn, serving as Managing
Partner.  As Chief Operating Officer on the management board of Immoeast/Immofinanz Group, he
consolidated and reoriented the activities of the group in Western and Eastern Europe.  In 2015, he
founded Galleon Capital Management GmbH and within a short time has established it as a
recognized player in the international asset and investment management business.

Kristóf BÁRÁNY has a master’s degree in economics (2004, Budapest University of
Economics) and he is also a CFA Charterholder (2009, CFA Institute). He has gained 15 years of
experience in real estate at Adventum, GRW Invest and numerous other fund managers, and
his expertise in venture capital at Flashpoint Venture Capital, SmartWareTech and other VC
Funds. He has outstanding structuring and financing expertise with exceptional acquisition,
management and exit experience regarding the institutional real estate market in the CEE
region.
He currently lives in Budapest, Hungary, and is the Founding Partner of Adventum Investment
Fund Management Ltd. (since 2016), Founding Partner of Adventum International Ltd. (since
2018), Founding Partner of GRW Invest Ltd. (since 2013), and Venture Partner of Flashpoint VC
(since 2014).
His attention and time is currently dedicated to Adventum Group, a fund manager focused on
CEE real estate investments with a current AuM of EUR1 bn, and which is entirely owned by
management. On behalf of its funds the Group now owns and manages over 700,000 sq. metres
of commercial real estate in the CEE region. Adventum’s ESG strategy is focused on the
reduction of lifetime CO2 emission and guided by international sustainability agenda and
conventions such as the Paris Agreement. The Group’s personnel include highly experienced
real estate professionals with CFA, NRW and MRICS qualifications and proven track record in
the CEE region.
Hobbies & passions
Being fond of numbers and calculus runs in the family: Kristóf’s father is a renowned
mathematician, Imre BÁRÁNY – member of the Hungarian Academy.
Kristóf is an avid and generous supporter of child protection services and foundations and has
acted as President of the Ethics Board of the HVCA (Hungarian Private Equity and Venture
Capital Association) for several consecutive years. He is married and a proud father of two girls
– thus he is environmentally highly committed to a greener, more sustainable, and even more
eco-conscious World.
Kristóf has been active in sports since his childhood, he very much prefers ball games with
tennis, squash and football topping the list.

Having graduated in Budapest in 1988, Peter is an economist by background. He also holds an MPhil degree in Land Economy from Cambridge University and a joint MSc degree in Real Estate from the Budapest Technical University and the Nottingham Trent University. He started his career 33 years ago and gained a wealth of experience in the field of property agency, development, valuation and investment & banking with local and international firms such as Price Waterhouse, Kuwait Petroleum, Jones Lang Wootton and Eurohypo. For more than a decade he was responsible for the CEE & SEE Region at HYPO NOE Landesbank für Niederoesterreich und Wien Bank AG, where he has been appointed to Head of Department for Real Estate Finance. This includes further responsibilities for countries such as Austria, Germany and Holland. Peter is an active member of RICS. He served in various positions like Chairman in Hungary or as a board member of RICS Europe and as that of Austria.

Marcell has been active in the commercial real estate industry since 2003. He is currently responsible to lead Sunbelt Development as CEO, working on Hotel, Industrial and Mixed-use developments. He spent 4 years at Futureal as Project Director of Budapest One office building, a 67,000 sqm premium office development. Before that he was with TriGranit Development Corporation for 11 years, managing sales and property management of the firm’s Millennium City Center development and Westend Office building. He started his career at Jones Lang LaSalle as junior office leasing advisor on landlord representation, later made responsible to manage the agency’s global clients’ office search processes in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and Slovenia.

Marcell has a postgraduate degree in Real Estate Management and Development from Heriot Watt University.

Jonathan Doughty is a consultant, working as Director, Leasing Special Projects on behalf of
ECE. He is responsible, along with a varied team of professionals, for the delivery of the new
Potsdamer Platz project in Berlin. He has been leading the relationship with Brookfield
Properties on the project since November 2020 and has brought many of the new tenants to the
project in Berlin with several “first to Germany” food and leisure concepts.
In his previous role, Jonathan was leading ECE’s global food and beverage and leisure
activities, for existing and new projects as well as the key relationships with the ECE food and
beverage and leisure partners and tenants.
In November 2017, shortly after joining ECE, he launched the “We Love Food” programme
across the business. This transformed the ECE approach to these important and growing
sectors. Jonathan also actively participates in the concept development of foodservice and
leisure with ECE investors, partners and the varied stakeholders in the ECE businesses and our
properties. Food and drink are still an incredibly important and growing part of these assets and
of Jonathan’s life. During his near 45 years in the foodservice industry, Jonathan has operated
around the world extensively in the hotel and restaurant industry, before starting the innovative
foodservice and leisure consultancy, “Coverpoint”. 23 years later the business was sold to JLL,
and Jonathan was, for nearly 3 years, Head of EMEA Foodservice Consulting for the JLL
property services business. In July 2017 Jonathan joined ECE.

He is a graduate of the Metropolitan University of Manchester, a past Worldwide President of
the FCSI (Foodservice Consultants Society International), a passionate fundraiser for MacMillan
Cancer Support and a trained chef and self-confessed “foodie”. Jonathan has worked over the
last 6 years with WhiteSpace Partners as a Special Advisor, helping foodservice brands to cross
borders. In January 2022 Jonathan was honored by being made Chairman (Non-Executive) of
WhiteSpace Partners.

Stevan Lojovic is an engineer and real estate professional with more than 20 years of senior management experience in the real estate and construction industry. He joined Bluehouse Capital in February 2008 and currently is focused on Hungarian, Serbian and Croatian markets in the investment and development activities of the company, working on a position of GM. In addition, he is engaged in all development projects on other markets of CEE and SEE, where Bluehouse Capital is active.

Before Bluehouse, he used to work as a director of PORR-Serbia (member of an Austrian PORR Group) and Head of Design Office in Trimo – Serbia (Slovenian Trimo Group). Between 2002 and 2005, he was engaged in several projects as a project manager or senior designer for the Italian company Artefact and Synthesis (UK-Russian developer) on their projects in Russia and Ukraine. 

Stevan holds an MBA in Financing and International Business from Cardiff Metropolitan University and the University of Wales and an M.Eng. in Structural Engineering from the University of Belgrade. He has proven international investment and development experience. Stevan is fluent in English and the Russian language.

Vladimír Bolek studied social sciences at Comenius University in Bratislava and Law and economics at Nottingham Trent University.
He began his career in 1994 in public administration at central state administration level in Bratislava. Later, after the transition to the private sphere, he became asset manager specializing in real estate investments. After the establishment of specialized real estate mutual funds in Slovakia in 2006, he became the portfolio manager of specialized real estate fund in Erste Asset Management in Slovakia. He also created and managed portfolios for private banking department.   He also participated in portfolio management of corporate real estate company Slovnaft as. In 2010 he became a portfolio manager of the „First real estate fund“ of IAD Investments and deputy of several real estate companies incorporated in the structure of the first real estate fund of IAD Investments. In 2015 he was promoted into IAD Investments board as member of board responsible for portfolio management department and real estate investment.

Vladimir Bolek is also a contributor to professional publications dealing with the issue of investment and asset management of real – estate in Slovakia.

Summary
Seasoned executive with 10+ years of experience in Real Estate
investments and asset management of R/E portfolio. In 2008 cofounded SITNO HOLDING Real Estate and led several projects in
CEE within residential and leisure development. Fluent in English
and Spanish.
Experience
SITNO HOLDING Real Estate
Managing Partner
September 2008 – Present (14 years)
Slovak Republic
Responsible for identification of opportunities, creation and management of
the project during its whole life cycle, including responsibility for creation of
the business plan, setting the strategic goals and milestones, measurement
methods, creating and managing team including strategic financial
management of the project and acquired assets. Most of the projects are from
real-estate sector located in CEE countries predominantly within Czech and
Slovak Republic.
SPONSOR.ONLINE
Managing Partner
October 2018 – February 2020 (1 year 5 months)
Lucerne Area, Switzerland
LucernaGroup.com
Managing Partner
March 2014 – February 2020 (6 years)
London, United Kingdom
Niche market boutique investment & management firm based in UK and
focused on asset management and investments in several sectors with focus
on IT sector within sports industry and real estate across EMEA markets.
Company represents several pools of institutional and private investors from
Europe, Middle East and Russia. Main focus is to deliver added value to
Page 1 of 2
investors through the unique opportunities in selected sectors and industries
and by managing life cycle of investments from initial fund-raising and
acquisitions to increase value and exit.
SK Slovan Bratislava
Executive vicepresident
January 2005 – September 2008 (3 years 9 months)
Executive Vice President and member of the board of directors at SK Slovan
Bratislava. Responsible for the operation of the club focused on budgeting,
fund-raising, marketing and sponsor-relations. Aiming the financial stabilization
of the club and regaining the top league positions through both on-the pitch as
well as off-the pitch performance of the club (TV Rights, live and broadcasted
audience, merchandising etc.) Club was stabilized in 2007 and sold to the
actual owners in 2008, participating in UEFA Champions league is considered
to be one of the few success stories within the sport sector in CEE.
Education
The Open University
Master of Business Administration (MBA), Business Administration and
Management, General · (2009 – 2012)
City University – Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Bachelor of Science (BS), Business Administration and Management,
General · (2000 – 2005)
Universidad de Navarra / University of Navarra
Business Administration and Management, General · (2002 – 2003)
Page 2 of

Mátyás Gereben, country manager of CPI Hungary Kft. (part of CPI Property Group) was appointed in June 2015. He is responsible for leading the Hungarian operation and overlooking acquisition activity in Hungary and Romania. Before joining CPI Property Group, he spent eight years at TriGranit Development Corporation, fulfilling various roles such as office leasing director in Slovenia, shopping center director at Polus Center, Budapest, and head of asset management CEE. Between 2003-2007 he was a senior office leasing manager in Cushman & Wakefield.

After graduating from Harrow High School Ontario, Canada, Gereben studied hotel and commercial real estate management in the College of Commerce and Economy Budapest and did his master’s degree in the University of Pécs, specializing in management consulting. He is married and has two children, and his interests include sailing and family activities.

Richard joined as Group CFO but is now refocusing on his previous dual role as Deputy CEO primarily overseeing the company’s core businesses in its CEE markets. Among many other achievements, Richard organised the largest industrial real estate refinancing in CEE history. led CTP’s debut green bond—the largest inaugural in CEE Real Estate—eventually bringing CTP’s overall cost of debt down to an industry—wide low.

David Huszlicska established Greenfield Development & Advisory in 2022 along with partners Gabor Moro and Daniel Szelesi, and currently holds the role of Managing Partner. The company’s core business is the construction of warehouses and production facilities in Hungary via general contracting, with additional secondary services including land scouting, technical and legal due diligence, land development, leasing and facility management. David has been active on the commercial real estate market for 15 years, having gained previous experience at the investment department of an international real estate agency, his own online real estate database management company and as a real estate asset manager at an international commercial bank. His role prior to establishing Greenfield Development & Advisory was country manager for Hungary at CTP, the largest and most active industrial developer on the Hungarian and European market, where he was responsible for strategy, development and company operations, and it was under his tenure that the company achieved the status of market leader.

Mihály Schrancz is the managing director of Property Market, the third largest real estate developer in Hungary. Among other developments, the company is responsible for the BudaPart project, the most significant neighborhood development in the modern history of Budapest. He has worked across Europe in the past 20 years, primarily for companies headquartered in Germany. As a result, he has had the chance to develop a highly international business approach. He studied architecture at the University of Pécs and subsequently lived in Dortmund, Graz, and Barcelona. He gained his doctorate, and three years later, his dr. habil title, in heritage protection. He taught at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics for eight years, where he also became a docent. In parallel, he was building his business career at two of Europe’s largest real estate development firms: at ECE, which is renowned for developing the Árkád shopping malls, and at Hochtief, whose primary business focus is office building development. In 2013, he founded his own real estate development firm, which developed HillSide Offices in Budapest. Alongside his wife, he also became the owner of the HD Group communications agency. In 2015, he was invited to lead the development of the BudaPart project from a professional perspective, where he acted as development director for five years; he has been Property Market’s managing director since 2020. He is a founding member of the Hungarian BIM Alliance and board member of Hungarian Green Building Council.

Roland Bogar is the real estate investment director of Diófa Asset Management, one of the leading fund managers in Hungary, with AUM of HUF 460 billion. He is responsible for overseeing the transaction, management, and leasing activity of the real estate business line of the company, including the portfolio owned by the third largest public real estate fund in Hungary.

He joined Diófa from Indotek Group, where, as head of the transaction management team, he had a decisive role in establishing and coordinating the institutional investment business line and the international business development activities of the group.

He started his professional career at the Budapest office of Colliers International in 2008. He graduated from the International Business School in Budapest in 2004 as an economist in corporate finance.

A member of GTC’s Management Board and Chief Financial Officer since July 2020

Ariel Alejandro Ferstman joined GTC in 2011 and has been leading the finance departments as a chief financial officer for GTC in Hungary, Croatia and Slovakia. Prior to joining GTC, Mr. Ferstman spent over three years as the Financial Controller for BSR Europe, formerly listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, and five years as a senior auditor in Ernst &Young in Israel and Argentina.

Ariel Alejandro Ferstman graduated cum laude from The University of Buenos Aires where he obtained a B.A. degree in accounting and finance. He also holds an MBA in Finance and Business Strategy from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Moreover, Mr. Ferstman is a chartered public accountant in Israel and Argentina.

Daryl Fidelak is Belgrade based media executive and IP specialist and currently the publisher of Serbia Monthly business lifestyle magazine.

Dušica Gaković is an insightful and influential professional with over 20 years of experience in development of real estate projects and one of pioneers of the Serbian real estate industry. Actively moving boundaries and setting new standards in construction, she successfully contributed in developing a number of residential and commercial buildings.  From 2013, she was appointed as Project Development Manager on behalf of market leading Serbian residential investor, company Deka Inženjering. She established, developed and managed one of the largest RE investment projects in Serbia named A Blok – a residential and business complex of 140,000 m2 in New Belgrade.
Since 2020, she is leading developing and building one of the most prestigious projects in Belgrade centre for the same investor – residential and business complex of 100,000 m2 named Novi Dorćol and it’s overall business activities.

Angelina has over 20 years of experience, of which 13 years in real estate. As the CEO of Delta Real Estate Group, she leads a highly diversified portfolio (shoping molls, hotels, office buildings..) value of over 800 million euros, mostly in Serbia, but also in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria. Delta Real Estate is a RE developer that covers both property and asset management activities for all of properties in its ownership.

Angelina started her career in finance and before the CEO position she was CFO of Delta Agrar and  Delta Real Estate.

She graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade.

Based both in Serbia and Monaco, Goran Djokovic oversees a number of projects ranging from an Asian investment fund, European real estate developments and one of SEE`s fastest expanding wineries.

Eric Assimakopoulos founded Revetas in 2012 and serves as Founding Partner.

Mr. Assimakopoulos has over 30 years of experience in real estate and has spent his career working principally as a builder and investor. Mr Assimakopoulos is a US national and retains US citizenship. He has however spent the majority of the last 19 years in Europe, initially investing in Belgium, Germany and Central Europe.

Throughout that period his investment and management activities have been mainly in Europe. During the 1990s Mr. Assimakopoulos founded and built the Gnome Group Inc as a design and build business specializing in technology data centres. In the late 1990s he partnered with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds and served as chairman and CEO of Metronexus, a real estate platform investing $300 million in 300,000 sqm of real estate in the US and Europe.

In 2002 Eric Assimakopoulos launched Bifrost to act as a CEE focused investment and asset management platform operating in the region and completing multiple successful investments. Mr. Assimakopoulos led the acquisition of properties in Belgium leased to the Belgian ministry of finance, as well as acquiring through a sale and leaseback a 47,500 sqm headquarters building from a portfolio company of KKR. Using Bifrost as the investment platform, he has acquired properties from large corporations such as Suez Tractebel group, as well as partnering with institutional investment funds such as Patron Capital.

Since 2009 Eric Assimakopoulos has refocused the platform to restructuring and recapitalizing distressed real estate in CEE, leading to the formation of Revetas. Since then, Eric successfully invested in, restructured and recapitalized c. €1.5 billion of real estate assets in the region.

Mr Assimakopoulos has been a director, board member and chairman of the board of multiple companies. He is an approved person with the FCA.

Originally from the U.S.A., Mr Assimakopoulos is proficient in French and a native English speaker.

Csaba Zeley, the managing director of the Budapest based investor and developer ConvergenCE has 25 years of real estate experience. Having worked for international property advisors Colliers, Equis and CBRE before joining ConvergenCE in 2008, he has seen many sides of the property industry and has taken part in various projects. Since his arrival he has been instrumental in managing the real estate assets and the business operations of ConvergenCE. He works on strengthening the company’s in-house investment and development businesses while continuing its boutique asset, property, facility, and project management services to select international building owners in Budapest.

Tamás Ádány is the business development director of Horizon Development, a leading real estate development company of Hungary. After graduating from Corvinus University of Budapest he gained more than 20 years of international experience in real estate advisory, real estate development, and project financing at PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Raiffeisen Bank and OTP group. Before joining Horizon Development in 2019 he worked for several years as CEO of OTP Real Estate Ltd., the real estate development company of the largest commercial bank in Hungary. He is married and has two children.

Krisztian Hornok has been the Transaction Director of Indotek Group since 2014, before which he held senior positions at various service companies. He was the Managing Director of real estate consulting company DTZ in Hungary for four years and a Member of the Board of RICS Hungary for seven years. In his current position he is primarily responsible for Indotek’s acquisition activities, executing high-value real estate and NPL transactions both at home and abroad on behalf of one of the most active investment companies in the country.

Valter Kalaus has more than 25 years of comprehensive international experience in corporate real estate consulting and tenant representation. He assisted Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies in the U.S. Since 2001 he has represented real estate users mainly in the Central European real estate market. He introduced the tenant-only representation services to the Hungarian market in 2001. VLK Real Estate Consulting was established in 2008 by Valter Kalaus, MRICS, and became VLK Cresa in 2015. In 2022, the company entered into a strategic alliance with Newmark (link to www.nmrk.com), becoming Newmark VLK Hungary.

Zdenek Kovarik has 20 year of executive experience in the hospitality industry, focusing on business development, operation management, sales and marketing.

Zdenek is the Head of Hospitality with Julius Meinl Living and was instrumental in the successful development of the group’s serviced residence The Julius in Prague. The Julius draws on the legacy of service, quality and innovation and balances luxury and modern design with warmth, comfort and convenience. Evoking the timeless standard and spirit of European hospitality through a modern mindset, The Julius represents a place in each city the group is active where our guests can stay, live and be free. Guests will experience the freedom of apartment living, with hassle-free access, easy-to-use technology and flexible amenities, whether staying for one night, one month or longer.

He also was essentially involved in the successful repositioning of the group’s residence in Budapest, The Escala Hotel & Suites, which Julius Meinl Living acquired in 2021.

Before joining Julius Meinl Living he has led major hotel chain teams across Central Europe such as  Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Kempinski, Radisson Blu, OREA Hotels and Mamaison by ORCO.

Zdenek holds a Masters Degree in Management and Economics from the Institute of Hospitality Management in Prague.

Graduated from the University of Pécs at the Faculty of Economics., Hungary. During his studies he worked for the Dresdner Bank and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. In 1990 he joined the Budapest Stock exchange board and in 1991 the Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), where he first worked in London and later in New York. In Budapest he managed the sales and trading departments as deputy manager until 2001.

After 10 years of international and large-scale enterprise carrier he launched his own investments. In 2004 he joined the Wizz Air success story among the firsts as the biggest private shareholder.

Following he started his investment activity and founded Central group which has been operating since 2004 on the Hungarian market. Established as a factoring company, the group has expanded its activities and now is involved also in receivables and property management and financial consulting.

In 2014 Central Group expanded with Central Médiacsoport Zrt. (Central Media Group former Sanoma Budapest), one of the biggest independent media companies of Hungary. With more than 25 print weekly and glossy magazines and 15 online portals the media portfolio reaches the 2/3 of Hungarian population. Moreover, his book publisher company under the umbrella of Central Media Group is in the top five publishers on the Hungarian book market managing titles just like Harry Potter books and Scandinavian crime novels.  Central has several interest in Poland, among them Central ownes one of the largest educational business, calls WSIP.

Along with the successful business, social responsibility is highly important for Mr. Varga. He has established a Mathematics Foundation in his hometown in Bonyhád and he is a dedicated supporter of several other foundations like Bátor Tábor and Mosoly Alapítvány. In 2021, he and his partner established the Central Social Foundation from a private investment, which was established to support the employees and their close relatives of Central Médiacsoport Zrt. and Central Kiadói Csoport Kft.

Salamon Adorján MRICS obtained a degree in economics (BSc in Economics) from the College of Commerce, after which he completed a Master’s degree in Real Estate at the joint program of Budapest University of Technology and Nottingham Trent University. He has been working in the real estate investment sector since 1993 and is the owner and Managing Director of ESTON International. He is also the former founder and CEO of iroda.hu and Otthon Centrum. Adorjan is one of the members of the board of the Hungarian Real Estate Association and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Experienced professional in Retail, CRM and Marketing with a Master Degree on MIS and Engineering Degree on Computer Science

Currently occupying the position of Country Manager for Koton Retail. Former Sales and Marketing Manager , Analytic CRM Executive, Brand Director and Country Brand Manager.

Specialties: Managing the whole operation of the company in Romania. Full P&L and Business Development responsibilites, from origination and evaluation to final execution, including underwriting, negotiating, marketing solutions, brand partnerships and business ventures across several asset classes.