Marat Terterov is an Australian national originally from Odessa, Ukraine. He has more than 10 years of experience working with Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia and the Caucasus in management capacities with international organisations, think tanks, technical assistance consulting projects, NGOs, and the private sector. Terterov has managed numerous investment promotion projects in the former-Soviet Union (FSU) and the Middle East, ranging from government-endorsed business publications to high-level investment forums drawing attention to prospective FSU economic sectors including energy, telecoms and insurance. This has brought him into close contact with many key decision makers in government and private sector in the FSU, wh ere he has spent years building lasting relationships and negotiating the interests of the organisations he has represented. Terterov holds a Doctorate in Middle Eastern politics from Oxford University (UK) and a Masters degree in international relations from an Australian university. This has given him the basis for exceptional communication skills, reflected by his many analytical publications on business and politics in the FSU and the Middle East, as well as his frequent public speaking engagements. He is currently engaged in the area of EU-FSU energy policy and seeks to become more active in the formulation of EU-FSU relations. Terterov speaks English, Russian and is conversant in Egyptian Arabic. He has lived and worked in Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East and is deeply familiarity with the cultures of both East and West.