SPECIAL GUESTS OF THE MARITIME ECONOMY FORUM 2023

dr Małgorzata Bonikowska

A PhD of European history, Europeanist, European Union expert, President of the Center for International Relations and publisher of the “THINKTANK” quarterly, member of the Citisense Initiative Programme Board

She specializes in international relations (with particular emphasis on the European Union) and communication in public institutions. A graduate of the University of Warsaw (Italian Studies), the Sorbonne in Paris (history and political science) and the PWST (history of culture), she completed two doctoral study programs – in Poland (Polish Academy of Sciences) and abroad. She also completed specialized studies at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) of Columbia University in New York as part of a Fulbright scholarship.

In the years 1995-1998 she worked as an editor at TVP, from 1998 she managed the European Information Centre at the Office of the Committee for European Integration. She developed and implemented the government Programme for Informing the Polish Society about Integration with the European Union and created the network of Regional European Information Centres. In the years 2001-2008 she was an expert of the European Commission and the head of the Information and Communication Programme of the European Commission in Poland and later on in Bulgaria. Since 1997, she has been an academic lecturer, a researcher and a government advisor. Author of over 80 publications and several books, she has promoted over 100 bachelor’s, master’s and graduate students.

Anna Clunes

Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

She assumed this position in 2020. Previously she worked at the UK Mission to the United Nations and the European Union. From 1996 to 2000 she served in Warsaw in Warsaw – at the time she was the Second Secretary for Development Assistance at the Department for International Development. From 2010 to 2017, she worked at the British Foreign Office, i.e. the equivalent of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2017 to 2020, she was director and then acting director general of the UK Department for Exiting the European Union. She also served as Director of Protocol, working close with Queen Elizabeth II. She is the first woman to receive a diplomatic uniform.

Øystein Bø

Norwegian diplomat and a politician for the Conservative Party.

He started working for the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990. He served as subdirector from 2000 and head of department from 2001 to 2006. The next four years he spent as an embassy counsellor at the Norwegian delegation to NATO in Brussels. He served as secretary of the parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2013, and then entered politics as State Secretary in the Ministry of Defence from 2013 to 2017. In 2018 he became the Norwegian Permanent Representative to NATO. Now serves as an Norway’s Ambassador to the Republic of Poland.

Rex Cox

CEO of the National Shipbuilding Office in London

Rear Admiral Rex Cox assumed the role of CEO of the National Shipbuilding Office in July 2021. He is a serving officer in the Royal Navy, a career which has spanned 33 years, 23 of which have been at sea, and has had the privilege of commanding four warships. Staff appointments have included three years as Defence Adviser to HM Treasury during the 2015 Strategic Defence & Security Review, and Head of Capability Plans in the Ministry of Defence during the 2020 Integrated and Spending Reviews.

He is a Freeman of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, Chair of the Coastal Forces Heritage Trust and a Trustee of both the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust, with specific responsibility for the Historic Boats Collection. He is also extremely fortunate to skipper the historic Motor Anti-Submarine Boat (MASB) 27.

Jacek Sadaj

President of the Management Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Management Board of the eighth term of Morski Port Gdynia S.A.

Jacek Sadaj is an experienced manager, a graduate of Gdansk University of Technology and Master of Business Administration (MBA) studies at the Gdansk Foundation for Management Development, carried out in cooperation with the University of Gdansk, validated by Porto Business School.

In 2006, he began his professional career at P. W. Centrostal Montaż Sp. o.o., then gained experience in international corporations: Air Liquide Polska Sp. z o.o., Promeco S.A., OMAX Poland Sp. z o.o. and Energomontaż – Północ Gdynia SA. He has been connected to the Energa Group since 2018. He performed the duties of representative of the Management Board for sales and logistics process optimization and Vice-President of the Management Board at Energia Logistyka Sp. z o.o.

Piotr Czarnecki

Business practitioner and a leader with over 35 years of experience in banking, telecommunications and digital business. A graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology, Harvard University and Columbia University. From the beginning of the political transformation, he has been associated with the banking sector, working in managerial positions at Polski Bank Rozwoju, Kredyt Bank, and Rabobank Polska. He participated in one of the largest business restructuring processes in Europe as the General Director of the Business Customers Division at Telekomunikacja Polska SA (France Telecom Group).

Between 2003 and 2018, he managed Raiffeisen Bank Polska SA as President of the Management Board and General Director.

Between 2010 and 2018, he was a member of the Council of the Polish Bank Association, 2017-2018 Chairman of the Association's Council. Member of supervisory and advisory boards, including: OCTAVA TFI SA, European Leasing Fund SA, SIEMENS Poland SA; currently residing at Hass Holding Ltd. and Partial Credit Guarantee Fund (for the government of Ukraine).

Academic lecturer at the Business School of the Warsaw University of Technology in the field of strategic management, banking and finance, and digital business.