The IIF was delighted to partner with Erste Group for the 2023 IIF Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) Economic Forum: Quo Vadis CEE? - Positioning Europe’s Growth Region in an Era of Uncertainty, Realignment and Transformation, which took place at the Erste Campus in Vienna, Austria. The event kicked-off on Tuesday, February 14 with a welcome reception and light dinner, followed by the main event on Wednesday, February 15.  

The global economy has experienced extreme volatility since 2019, with the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 shock now overshadowed by the war in Ukraine. Supply shortages and other factors have driven up prices of important commodities, including energy sources and food. While this may speed up the transition to renewables in the mid-run, short-term challenges are increasingly dominated by a darkening macroeconomic picture. In addition, we have faced major challenges on the political front, where ongoing shifts in the global balance of power are reshaping long-standing relations between countries and regions. Owed to its geographic location as well as historical and economic ties to countries of the former Soviet Union, the CEE region is at the center of these developments. During the event we aimed to develop a deeper understanding of CEE’s perspectives in the light of these various trends and how the region should position itself. 

Please contact [email protected] with any questions.

Program Agenda

Featured Speakers

<b>Lavinia Bauerochse</b>
Global Head of ESG
Corporate Bank of Deutsche Bank
<b>Abderrezak Benyoucef</b>
Head of Energy Studies
OPEC
<b>Ingo Bleier</b>
Chief Corporates and Markets Officer
Erste Group Bank AG
<b>Piotr Bujak</b>
Chief Economist
PKO Bank Polski
<b>Willi Cernko</b>
Chief Executive Officer
Erste Group Bank AG
<b>Zsuzsa Delikát</b>
Director, Head of Research
Oriens
<b>Michael Faulend</b>
Vice Governor
National Bank of Croatia
<b>Gottfried Haber</b>
Vice Governor
Central Bank of Austria
<b>Florian Herzog</b>
Head Emerging Markets
Amundi Austria
<b>Marion Hoenicke</b>
Head of Division “Banks”, Neighbouring Countries Department
European Investment Bank (EIB)
<b>Vedrana Jelušić Kašić</b>
Member of the Management Board
Privredna banka Zagreb
<b>Juraj Kotian</b>
Economist and Head of Macro and Fixed Income Research for Central and Eastern Europe
Erste Group Bank AG
<b>Hiroshi Matano</b>
Executive Vice President
MIGA
<b>Fiona Melrose</b>
Head of Group Strategy & ESG
UniCredit S.p.A.
<b>Sergiy Nikolaychuk</b>
Deputy Governor
National Bank of Ukraine
<b>Magdalena Polan</b>
Principal, Lead Economist
PGIM Fixed Income
<b>Marie-Laure Schaufelberger</b>
Head of ESG and Stewardship
Pictet Group
<b>Martin Selmayr</b>

Head of the European Commission Representation in Austria
<b>Dorota Strauch</b>
Deputy Head of Economics Research
Raiffeisen
<b>Angelina Valavina</b>
Senior Director, Head of EMEA Natural Resources & Commodities
Fitch Ratings
<b>Barnabás Virág</b>
Deputy Governor
National Bank of Hungary
<b>Eva Zamrazilová</b>
Deputy Governor
Czech National Bank