General
AGRI EUROPE CYPRUS LTD financial holding consolidates bank assets of our Group, thus representing the leading financial holding company in the region that consists of the following recognised financial institutions operating in the territory of Southeast Europe: Gorenjska Banka, AIK Banka, Eurobank Direktna, M&V Investments and GB Leasing.
AEC Group operates with a clear focus to meet the unique financial needs of all clients. It is a growth-oriented full-service financial institution serving businesses and individuals across SEE region, through extensive branch network. Over 3.000 employees provide personal services and full range of relevant financial solutions. Highly profitable structure with app. EUR 8.7 billion of total assets, including total net loans in amount of app. EUR 6.1 billion, while funding is based on stable deposit portfolio in amount of app. EUR 7.3 billion, followed by strong capital base. The Group is pursuing growth in a responsible and sustainable manner, fostering social and economic well-being in the places where we live, work and give back.
As the sound financial institution, dedicated towards sustainable growth and development, by sharing good practice, knowledge, and experience and with rational strategic investments, we are focused on further enlargement of our presence and strengthening of our position within regional market and Europe.
Group Members
M&V Investments has organised and processed some of the largest domestic and regional company takeovers and is an acting corporate agent for over 70 largest companies in Serbia and SEE region.
The recognition of its dedication and success is due to the fact that for five years in a row, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, AIK Banka won the prestigious International Banker Award granted by this renowned global magazine for the best commercial bank in Serbia.
Gorenjska Banka is an established and respected financial institution with a long-lasting reputation as a bank truly committed to serving its varied customer base in the best possible way, by providing excellent banking services.
GB Leasing is an established company with a comprehensive and in-depth understanding of financial and insurance services in Slovenia.
Eurobank Direktna is a universal bank and one of leading financial institution, equally focused on both retail and corporate banking.
Board Members
Romeo Collina
Mr. Collina started his banking career in Italy in 1980s, before moving thereafter to US for 10 years between Chicago and New York where he took over as Deputy Chief Branch Manager , responsible for Corporate clients in US and Central & South America.
In 2000, Mr. Collina moved to London as a Branch Manager until 2004 when he became the Head of Trade Financing, Corresponding Banking and International Network, in more than 20 countries, for Capitalia, the third largest Italian Banking Group.
After the merger with Unicredit he was involved in the most significant turnaround projects. In 2010 he was appointed as CEO in ATF Bank, 3rd largest Kazak Group. In 2013 he was Head of Restructuring and Workout in Italy, becoming the following year Deputy Chief Risk Officer.
In 2015 Mr. Collina was nominated Deputy Chairman of the Management Board and GM in Zagrebacka, number one Bank in Croatia.
From March 2016 to the end of 2018, he joined the Board of Bank Austria, number one Bank in the Country, as Deputy Chairman of the Management Board and COO.
In 2019 he was part of the team who was working along with the Group CEO on the new 2020-2023 Business Plan. On January 2020 he was appointed as CEO again in Zagrebacka until he retired on September 2021.
In November 2022 Mr. Collina was nominated as a Chairman of AEC Group Board of Directors.
Before entering in the Banking Industry he was a member of the Italian Waterpolo National Team in two Olympic Games. He was World Champion in 1978.
Aleksandar Kostić
Before joing the Group, he has gained knowledge and experience in private equity, credit, and real assets through different assignments and investment projects within the region.
Aleksandar graduated from the Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) where he studied at the Department of Economics.
Lambros Papadopoulos
Mr. Papadopoulos has 29 years of experience in senior management and board positions in listed companies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Greece, and Cyprus.
Since January 2022 he is an Independent Member of the Board of Directors of Agri Europe Cyprus Ltd and is currently the Chairman of the Risk Committee.
Mr. Papadopoulos commenced his career in 1993 at Ernst & Young in London, where he qualified as a member of ICAEW and worked in the divisions of Audit and Corporate Finance until 1998.
During 1998-2012, he worked at Citigroup (London) as the Head of Equities Research for Greece and as Head of Research for Small and Medium Capitalization Companies in Continental Europe. Since 2006 he held the position of Managing Director and was a member of the Operating Committee in Equity Research.
Since July 2019, he is the Non-Executive Chairman of the Cyprus Asset Management Company (KEDIPES) while since April 2019, he is also the Non-Executive Chairman of Trastor Real Estate Investment Company which is listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.
Amongst the other non-executive positions that Mr Papadopoulos held, was being the Chairman of the Audit Committee and Independent BoD Member at Bank of Cyprus in 2013 and Hellenic Bank between 2015-2018. Between 2018-2022 he was an Independent BoD Member and Member of the Audit / Strategy Committees of the Board of Directors of Global Ports Investments, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
In 2013, Mr. Papadopoulos founded PenteP Advisors Ltd, which provides consulting services in financial and strategic matters.
Mr. Papadopoulos holds a B.A. (Hons) Accounting with Computing (First Class) degree from the University of Kent at Canterbury (UK), and since 1996 is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Richard Sharko
Mr. Richard (Rich) Sharko is an American CPA (Retired) and has been in the accounting profession for more than 40 years. He originally started with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Los Angeles in 1983. Subsequently he worked in the London, Budapest, Vladivostok, Moscow and Amsterdam offices in the PwC network. During that time, he gained experience in the areas of audit and accounting in the banking, insurance, investments, real estate and extractive industries sectors. Rich became a partner in 1996 and retired from PwC in 2021.
In addition to the auditing and accounting experience, Mr. Sharko was also a member of the Network Global Governance Board from 2009 to 2013 and the CRO for the PwC CEE region from 2013-2015. From 2015 to 2020, he was a Board member of the International Auditing and Assurance Board.
Nikolas Neophytou
Nikolas Neophytou is an ACCA and has been in the accounting profession for more than 40 years. He worked in London for 12 years gaining experience in the fields of audit, and corporate taxation. He joined PricewaterhouseCoopers (Cyprus) in 1989 and became a Partner in 1994 specialising in International Tax in diverse industry sectors, with special focus financial service industry.
From 2005 to retirement in 2013, Nicos was heading the Global Corporate Services department in Limassol, being in charge of a large and diverse portfolio of clients ranging from multinational and local companies to high net worth individuals.
Martin Elling
Martin, a Dutch national, graduated in economics in 1979 after which he joined United Nations where he worked for 11 years on sector policy lending in Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa mostly for the World Bank. In 1992, he joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, as a Senior Banker. Martin left the Bank in 1997 and he has since then created several businesses in B2B services in Ukraine and Russia. After achieving three successful exits, Martin now works mostly as a Non-executive Director concentrating on strategic development and corporate governance.
George Syrichas
Mr.Syrichas has more than 30 years of experience in the financial sector. He served as an Executive Director and Board member of the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Resolution Authority of Cyprus. He is currently on the Board of banking and financial institutions.
Mr. Syrichas also follows and deeply understands international economic and financial developments and challenges. He has participated in numerous international fora, such as the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the ECB Governing Council as the Governor’s accompanying expert.
Mr.Syrichas holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Essex. He has taught economics and business executive courses at various Universities and institutions in Cyprus and abroad. He frequently discusses current economic affairs in public media and has given numerous lectures in Cyprus and abroad on topics related to the Cyprus and European economies, banking, financial stability, monetary and exchange rate policy, and European Union issues.
Jelena Galić
Jelena Galic graduated from Faculty of Economics at University of Belgrade, and obtained Ph.D. in Economics at the same University.
Jelena Galic joined AIK Banka in March 2015 as Chairperson of the Board of Directors. Before this position, she was the Director of the Business Advisory Services at Deloitte Belgrade and also Practice Leader in Financial Service Industry (FSI) and Public Sector (PS) for the cluster composing of Serbia, Republic of Srpska, Macedonia and Montenegro within S&O and ICT. Her service line focus was on strategy development, business restructuring and change management.
Before joining Deloitte, she was the Executive Director of the Economics Institute in Belgrade. During her 25 years of professional experience, Ms. Galic has taken a leading role in number of projects performed for public and private sector clients in the area of strategy and business development. In addition to this, during her engagement within the Economics Institute, she has also been active in providing advisory services to the government in the area of economic policy and financial sector development (she led number of projects, governed by international development agencies such as ED, WB, IFC, and performed for the government as a beneficiary).
She attended many domestic and international conferences as invited speaker and published more than 40 working papers and was one of the founders and Vice President of the Serbian Association of Managers (SAM). Currently, she is a member of the Managing Board of SAM, Managing Board of Serbian Banks Association, Academic Society of Serbian Economists (ASSE), Serbian Economists Association, Banking Committee of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Serbian Association of Corporate Directors. She is also the Associate Professor at Belgrade Banking Academy (BBA).
Aleksandra Babic
Aleksandra Babic graduated from Webster University, Vienna where she also received her master’s degree. Mrs. Babić has more than 15 years of experience in the financial sector. She started her career as an auditor of financial institutions in Ernst and Young. Later she joined Ernst and Young advisory team. She was engaged on the projects in risk management area including introduction and implementation of Basel standards.
In 2014, she joined AIK bank, Belgrade as Head of Risk Controlling. In 2021, she became Head of AEC Group Risk Management function responsible for development of comprehensive risk management framework on the Group level and for monitoring of the implementation of the Group Risk Management and Group Risk Appetite on the subsidiary level. Both as a Head of Risk Controlling and Head of Group Risk Function, Mrs. Babic was actively involved in numerous MA processes.
Since, Jun 2023 she is Group Chief risk Officer.
