Leadership

Ruben Vardanyan

Founding Partner and Vice-Chairman of the International Advisory Board of Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, Chairman of the SKOLKOVO Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Chairman of the Expert Council of the school’s Wealth Transformation Center. President of Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO in 2006-2011
- Ruben Vardanyan is an Armenian-Russian impact investor and social entrepreneur. He serves on the advisory boards of the IFC (World Bank Group) and Fundação Dom Cabral business school in Brazil. He is also a board member at Ameriabank (a major Armenian bank), SOLLERS (Russia’s auto major) amongst a host of other companies, NGOs, public and professional organizations. A prominent financier, Ruben owns a stake in a joint venture with the Otto family in a commercial realty management business in Russia. He is known both for his financial projects (Troika Dialog investment house) as well as his deep reaching philanthropic programs, such as the first UWC college in Eastern Europe (Dilijan, Armenia) and the Tatev Revival Project, part of which includes the construction of the world’s longest cableway leading to an ancient monastery. Together with his partners, Ruben has invested about $500M in projects in Armenia, developing a commercial approach that relies on involving blended financing to find solutions to social problems. He has also raised over $500M to finance the first private business school in Russia – a pioneering institution both in terms of scale and in its collaborative nature. In 2015, Ruben co-founded another global project, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors. Biography
Andrei Sharonov

President of the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, Vice-Chairman of SKOLKOVO Institute for Emerging Market Studies Supervisory Board
- Andrei Sharonov has extensive public and business experience, including as Deputy Mayor of Moscow for economic issues, First Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Economy of the Russian Federation and Chairman of Russia’s largest private investment bank. In addition, he heads the Executive Committees of Moscow Urban Forum and Open Innovations Forum. Biography
Karl Johansson

Chairman of SKOLKOVO Institute for Emerging Market Studies Management Committee
- Karl Johansson is a former CIS Sub-Area Managing Partner at Ernst &Young Moscow responsible for the development and expansion of EY’s practice in the CIS region. He is an acknowledged international expert in financial services, strategic management and business development. Mr. Johansson actively participates in the Foreign Investment Advisory Council in Russia and in other initiatives to improve the investment climate in Russia.
Vladimir Preobrajensky

Member of SKOLKOVO Institute for Emerging Market Studies Management Committee, SKOLKOVO Institute for Emerging Market Studies Research Mentor
- Vladimir Preobrajensky is a professor of strategy and finance in the SKOLKOVO EMBA, MBA and executive education programmes. He has served as CFO for major NYSE listed Russian corporations in coal, energy, telecom and consumer goods, and as a director for the independent Russian research group Scenarios for Russia. Mr. Preobrajensky is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Agate Fund, which provides support for young entrepreneurs.