The Regular Board Meeting, followed by the Annual General Assembly of Vienna Economic Forum (VEF) in 2023 took place on 13 February at the Vienna headquarters of the VEF Founding member – Vienna Insurance Group AG (VIG).
The host Mag. Peter Höfinger, Member of the VIG Board and VEF Vice-President, welcomed the present participants on the top floor of the Ring Tower.
The Secretary General of VEF Ambassador Dr. Elena Kirtcheva reported on the VEF activities in yet another special and volatile year, which despite all global challenges can be described as very successful for Vienna Economic Forum.
The VEF Secretary General particularly emphasized the great success of the 19th Vienna Economic Forum – Vienna Future Dialogue 2022, which took place on 14. November 2022 at the Raiffeisen Bank International in Vienna under the motto “Economy meets politics in difficult and uncertain times”.
According to the Statute, the VEF President DI Peter Umundum led through the Agenda and the following new members were proposed by the Board and confirmed by the General Assembly:
The following were elected as new Board members:
• Dr. Christian Schwarz, Managing Director, as representative of the Member – Cooperation partner KELAG AG;
• Mr. Veselin Baldzhiev, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Executive Director, as representative of the Member- Cooperation partner BULGARKONTROLA LTD;
• Ms. Olha Bosak, MSc, responsible for Strategic Business Developments, as representative of the Member-Cooperation partner enso GmbH;
• DI Wolfgang Anzengruber, long-time CEO of Verbund AG and honorary member of Vienna Economic Forum;
• Ambassador Dr. Emil Brix, Director of the Diplomatic Academy (DA) Vienna;
• Mag. Nikolaus-Conrad Lorenz, Strategy Director, Canon CEE, co-opted as a Board member in the place of his predecessor Mr. Wilbert Verheijen, Managing Director, Canon CEE GmbH.
The following were elected as new Members – Cooperation partners:
• BULGARKONTROLA LTD
• enso GmbH
The following were elected as new Members – Legal entities:
• KOOPERATIVA poisťovňa, a.s. Vienna Insurance Group, Bratislava
• L&M Political Risk and Strategy Advisory GmbH
• The Fund of Funds – Fund Manager of Financial Instruments in Bulgaria
The following were elected as new Members-Natural persons:
• Dr. Willibald Plesser
• Ms. Velina Tchakarova, MA
• Ms. Irena Perchuklievska Pal
The following were elected as new Members of the Ambassadors Committee:
• H.E. Mme Ambassador Dragana Radulović, Charge d’Affaires a.I. at Embassy of Montenegro
• H.E. Mme Michaela Mocanu, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Moldova
• H.E. Mme Desislava Naydenova-Gospodinova, designated Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria
Honorary membership in the honorary committee of the Vienna Economic Forum was awarded to the following former VEF Board members:
• Dr. Karl Blecha – former Minister of Interior of the Republic of Austria, long-standing Board member of Vienna Economic Forum
• Dr. Klaus Liebscher– former governor of the Austrian National Bank, long-standing Board member of Vienna Economic Forum
After the election and appointment of the new members, DI Peter Umundum handed over the office of VEF President to Ambassador Victor Jackovich, President, Jackovich International LLC, USA, long-standing VEF board member and supporter of various VEF activities.
Ambassador Jackovich primarily thanked DI Umundum for his activities as VEF President (2020-2023) and then expressed his gratitude for the trust. He emphasized that he wants to carry the office well into the future and develop the forum well.
With a short speech, the outgoing President DI Peter Umundum thanked the newly elected VEF Board members for their trust.
After the conclusion of the Agenda, the General Assembly was closed at 6.00 p.m.
Following this year’s Board meeting and General Assembly, Mag. Peter Höfinger, Vice-President of Vienna Economic Forum, invited to a small reception, where the members had the opportunity to discuss various possibilities and ideas for further cooperation in the Vienna Economic Forum region.
