Electromobility is a topic that is gaining more and more attention worldwide.

On 5 May, a new format was added to the repertoire of our Club events – a full-fledged one-day workshop. The idea for this event came from the members themselves and was developed thanks to their suggestions. The theme of the workshop is the consideration of theoretical aspects and examples of practical application of modern trends in management, namely Agile-management, system management and corporate culture. Three experienced trainers – Vladimir Gorshunov and Aleksey Alekseev from Belarusian company AgileLab, and Heiko Brix, representing Brix-Coaching & Training from Germany – presented the mentioned topics and covered a wide range of related issues.

The event focused on the possibilities of applying the acquired knowledge in practice, exercises as well as interaction with each other, exchange of views and experiences between participants and trainers as well as among the participants themselves – rather than simply passing on theoretical knowledge. The whole event was planned according to this principle. The venue – a cottage at the Robinson Club on the Minsk Sea, the time – a whole day off, and the format – round tables instead of theatre or podium seating – were to encourage interaction with each other and creativity.

The coaches delivered very interesting training sessions, filled not only with professional knowledge, but above all with practical tasks and exercises. The topics of the workshop were highly relevant to many of our club members in view of their own management activities, and this was also reflected in the interest and involvement of participants in the group work.

However, participants had varying levels of knowledge of the individual parts of the workshop. While some of the participants were familiar with the concepts of Agile or corporate culture, including from working in their own companies, others were familiar with many of the terms in the most general way. For this very reason, a very interesting and lively discussion took place. The inviting atmosphere at the cottage, combined with an attractive view of the Minsk Sea, contributed to a good mood among the participants and encouraged informal communication as planned.

The workshop was followed by a short tour around the Robinson Club grounds, and the evening was rounded off with a barbecue dinner. Thus, the dinner, which could also be attended by family members of the workshop participants, was another good opportunity to informally discuss what we heard and share our own experiences in the field.

The certainly positive feedback from our members on this event clearly showed that this format fits the needs of our members very well and is accordingly a success. We will therefore continue to offer the same relevant and practical topics in a similarly practical and engagingly communicative format.

Photo impressions of the workshop can be found in the gallery, and the trainers’ presentations are available to club members in the private section of our website.

From decentralisation to centralisation. From blockchain to the cloud.

Theme “Blockchain: Fundamentals and Applications in Economics” ended.

 

At our Club Evening on 7 March we had the opportunity to welcome not only many club members but also quite a few guests. In particular, we were delighted to see representatives of large German companies: Michael Sargsyan, Director of Zeppelin Weissrusland, and Rifat Čiček, Regional Manager for CIS countries at Kühne&Nagel.

A large number of participants was probably also due to the very topic of the evening, which aroused great interest among those present. The March club evening was dedicated to current trends in the development of technology and its supporting public institutions. The topic of the evening was digital economy development, in particular, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, as well as the legal framework conditions in Belarus, especially the Presidential Decree No 8, which should facilitate further development of the said technologies in the country.

As an introduction to the topic, Hovsep Voskanyan, Head of Commerzbank Representative Office and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Club, outlined the principles of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology, with a special emphasis on the consequences of these technological developments for the financial sector.

The main speaker of the evening was Veronika Pavlovskaya, a lawyer at our Club member company Arzinger&Partners. She presented an overview of current opportunities and expected trends in the IT business, as well as in the digitalization of the Belarusian economy: Veronika told about the Hi-Tech Park and the Great Stone Industrial Park, about the current Decree No 8, and covered the current state of legislation in the practice of cryptocurrencies, tokens, and ICO in Belarus. The presentation found a lively response from the participants of the evening, which was reflected in numerous questions. The presentation showed great opportunities, but also highlighted many aspects that still exist in the technological, and above all, legal sphere, which need to be thoroughly worked out. It also became clear that the time frame of the Club Evening was unlikely to be sufficient to cover the topic in any depth. That is why we are particularly excited about the upcoming blockchain workshop, where the guest speaker Andrey Lankin from Wargaming will be taking a closer look at this new technological trend.

On 31.01.2018, a regular general meeting of the members of the German-Belarusian Economic Club on the results of 2017 was held. Hovsep Voskanyan, Chairman of the Management Board, chaired the meeting. According to the Statutes of the Club, the first part of the meeting presented the results of the Club’s work for the past year. Then the board members and cashiers of the Club were dismissed by the General Meeting.

During the General Meeting it was decided to increase the number of Board members to six. There were no elections for the Board this year, so at the next meeting a new member will be included in the Board. The next election will take place at the next General Meeting of the Club in February 2019. Mrs. Karin Kascheyeva and Mr. Klaus Jacobi were re-elected as cash comptrollers.

The tasks and plans of the Club for 2018 were then presented and discussed. By a general vote, decisions were made on important issues of the Club’s work, in particular on increasing the membership fee, on organising the 10th German Economy Day as well as the annual conference of German Economic Clubs from CEE countries. Furthermore, it was decided that a new format of events in the form of workshops and specialized seminars, which had already been held in 2017, would be introduced to add to the Club evenings.

In total, the meeting lasted about 2.5 hours and laid the groundwork for the Club’s work in 2018. We hope that the first results of the decisions made will be visible in the coming weeks.

The 2018 calendar of events was opened with the January club evening on 10.01.18. Traditionally, this first club evening served to give members the opportunity for comments and feedback on the club’s activities in the previous year, as well as any suggestions for the new year that has begun.

As a basis for discussion, Chairman Hovsep Voskanyan began by giving a brief overview of the past year – the events and activities held, as well as the budget fulfilment.

This was followed by an exchange of ideas for activities in the new year. The retention of the monthly club evenings, one or two business-oriented major events – depending on feasibility, as well as the end-of-year ball as fixed points of the calendar of events was welcomed by all members. There were some concrete suggestions for the implementation of professional or leisure-oriented events. The proposals and measures discussed will be incorporated into the agenda of the upcoming general meeting in accordance with our club’s statutes. The agenda will also include the important point of the current adjustment of membership fees, which was discussed in detail at the club evening.

The agenda will be sent to all members by 15.01.2018 at the latest for their information and submission of further proposals by 24.01.2018.

The December club evening prepared two special topics for discussion and was very informative. Our headliner for the evening was our guest of honour, Bernd Rosenberg, Deputy Chairman of the Board at Priorbank. However, even before Mr Rosenberg spoke, we were happy to give the opportunity to introduce ourselves to three new club members: representatives from Miory Steel, Mark Formelle and OBK Group. The new members did not miss this opportunity and had already been able to give a first insight into their companies’ activities, which led to further networking and subsequent discussion during the evening reception.

After the introduction of the new members Mr Rosenberg began his presentation. In his detailed and interesting presentation he not only introduced us to the status quo and the development prospects of Priorbank, but also gave an overview of the current situation in the banking sector in Belarus. The problem of digitalisation, which is increasingly affecting the financial world nowadays, was also touched upon. The participants then had the opportunity to ask questions of the referent, resulting in several lively discussions, which continued during the evening reception.

Overall, the evening was so well received that next year we plan to invite more club members as experts and thereby facilitate a thematic exchange of views between experts.