Wojciech Kostrzewa
Wojciech Kostrzewa | |
---|---|
Born | October 18, 1960 |
Alma mater | University of Kiel |
Occupation(s) | manager, entrepreneur |
Title | CEO of Billon |
Awards | Order of Polonia Restituta |
Wojciech Kostrzewa (pronounced [vɔjtɕɛɣ kɔstʂɛva]; born October 18, 1960 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish manager and entrepreneur, CEO of Billon and president of the Polish Business Roundtable (Polska Rada Biznesu), an organization of owners and key managers of the largest Polish companies and international enterprises operating in Poland.
Education and academic activity
Wojciech Kostrzewa graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Kiel in 1987. He also studied law at the University of Warsaw in 1979–1981. In 1981, together with four other students from Austria, Hungary, and West Germany, he founded the European Law Students' Association (ELSA).[1] In 1984–1991, he worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Kiel and later became a researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He published several academic papers on economics and finance.[2]
Professional career
In 1989–1991, Wojciech Kostrzewa served as an economic advisor to the Polish Finance Minister, Leszek Balcerowicz.[3] In 1990–1995, he was CEO of the Polish Development Bank (Polski Bank Rozwoju).[4][5] In 1996, he became deputy CEO, and in 1998 President and CEO of BRE Bank (today's mBank),[6] where he worked until 2004. In 2002–2004, he was also regional director of Commerzbank, responsible for its operations in Central and Eastern Europe.[7] At that time, he was reported to be the only Pole who occupied a high managerial position at a foreign private bank.[8] In 2005–2018, he was President and CEO of ITI Group and long-term chairman of the supervisory board of TVN,[9][10] one of the biggest Polish private TV broadcasters in the period of his presidency.[11][12] In December 2018, he became CEO of the Polish-British fintech company Billon,[13] a FCA[14] and PFSA[15] registered e-money institution, which develops a technology to store and transfer regulated currencies and other data based on a proprietary blockchain. Currently, Wojciech Kostrzewa is also member of the board of directors of the Swiss railway rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail (since 2012),[16] member of supervisory boards of the Ergo Hestia insurance group's companies (since 2017),[17] owner and chairman of the Pascal Publishing House, co-founder and chairman of Quedex Bitcoin Derivatives Exchange[18] licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC),[19] and owner and chairman of Poland Investments, a consulting M&A company. [20]
In 2004–2007, he was president of the German-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry.[citation needed] In 2007–2020, he served as vice president of the Polish Confederation Lewiatan (Konfederacja Lewiatan), in May 2020 he joined the organization's General Council[21] a Polish nationwide employers' organization. In 2015, he was elected vice president, and in 2019 president of the Polish Business Roundtable (Polska Rada Biznesu).[22]
Honors
References
- ^ "The 30th Jubilee of the European Law Students' Association". mtp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Wojciech Julian Kostrzewa". Econstor. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ JPRS Report: East Europe, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, May 1991, p. 7.
- ^ Richard W. Stevenson (February 23, 1993), "Poles Forge Private Bank System". New York Times.
- ^ Business and Economic Yearbook, The Warsaw Voice, 1999, p. 43.
- ^ Nigel Holloway (October 2, 2000), "Let 3 Million Flowers Bloom". Forbes.
- ^ The Europa World Year 2004, vol. I: International organizations. Countries: Afghanistan – Jordan, Europa Publications Taylor & Francis Group, 2004, p. 2043.
- ^ "Giving media the Midas touch". bankier.pl. January 12, 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "TVN S.A. – Powołanie nowych członków do Rady Nadzorczej TVN S.A." bankier.pl (in Polish). May 11, 2005. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
- ^ "TVN: Appointment of the Supervisory Board members of TVN S.A." marketscreener.com. June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ Ben Fenton, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, and Jan Cienski (September 23, 2011), "Vivendi and Time Warner vie for Poland’s TVN". Financial Times.
- ^ Nicole Levy (March 16, 2015), "Scripps Networks acquires majority stake in Polish broadcaster". Politico.
- ^ "Wojtek Kostrzewa is the new CEO of Billon Group". press.billongroup.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Billon is the first Polish company to feature on FinTech50". paymentsjournal.com. June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Billon licensed to operate as a e-money institution in EU". enterprisetimes.co.uk. May 1, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Board of Directors". stadlerrail.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Management and Supervisory Board". ergohestia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved June 8, 2019.
- ^ "About". quedex.net. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
- ^ "Quedex Awarded DLT Licence by Gibraltar Financial Services Commission - 563/2019". gibraltar.gov.gi. The official website of the HM Government of Gibraltar. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ "Poland Investments". rejestr.io. National Court Register of Poland Government of Gibraltar. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
- ^ "General Council". konfederacjalewiatan.pl (in Polish). Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- ^ "Wojciech Kostrzewa elected as the new president of the Polish Business Roundtable". prb.pl. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
- ^ "Dziękuję za zasługi w drodze ku polskiej wolności". prezydent.pl (in Polish). The official website of the President of Poland. June 3, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2019.