13th Grow East Congress: Doing business in Central and Eastern Europe in uncertain times

The uncertainty about the escalation of the war, the expansion of the conflict to EU countries and the threat of discontinued energy supplies to Europe have heavily tarnished the investment attractiveness of the CEE region. Not to forget the ongoing disruptions of global supply chains, inflationary pressures unseen for decades and shortages of labor and skills in many sectors that have plagued businesses throughout the region.

At the same time, the EU is pushing the important green and digital transformation of the member states that just gathered momentum with the roll out of the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility. This raises the question if the war in Ukraine with its massive impact on European energy supplies and security is accelerating or reversing the development towards green energy. The focus of the Congress is on how Western multinational firms have been coping with this complexity of challenges. Many pressing operational issues have to be handled together with questions on fundamental strategic reorientations. These debates in the corporate groups and with the diverse stakeholders are mostly controversial and good solutions are hard to achieve.

• What are the effects of the war in Ukraine and the sanctions against Russia on the economies in the region?
• How are Western multinationals active in the region affected and how do they respond to this multitude of challenges?
• What is the outlook for the CEE region given the manifold direct and indirect effects of the war in Ukraine on economies, supply chains and markets? What are the plans for rebuilding Ukraine?

Structure of Congress

08.30-09.00 Registration online/WKO Conference Center

09.00-09.15 Welcome & Opening

Michael Otter, Director General, Advantage Austria

Overview of the Program

Manfred F. Berger, Partner of ICONIC Consulting & Founder of NEUSICHT Think Tank

09.15-09.40 Opening: Doing business in CEE in uncertain times – Arnold Schuh, Director, Competence Center for Emerging Markets & CEE, WU Vienna

09.40-10.40 Session 1: The Big Picture

• The macro-economic view – Gunter Deuber, Head of Research, Raiffeisen Bank International AG
• The EU-view/energy view (Advantage Austria/WKO)
• The consumers/market view – Tobias Schediwy, Commercial Director CEE/Consumer Panels & Services, GfK

Moderation: Manfred F. Berger, ICONIC/NEUSICHT

10.40-11.10 Coffee Break

11.10-12.10 Session 2: The Strategic Responses by Multinational Firms

• Andrey Yekimov, General Manager Consumer Brands Romania/Bulgaria, Henkel Group
• Krzysztof Soszyński, Vice-President of the Board, Inter Cars S.A., Poland
• Herbert Krutina, Division Manager SEE, Member of the Board, STRABAG AG
• Clemens Först, Spokesman of the Board, Rail Cargo Group Moderation: Arnold Schuh, WU

12.10-12.50 Session 3: The Outlook for CEE and Rebuilding Ukraine

• The Polish View – Valerie Breitenfeld, Austrian Deputy Trade Commissioner for Poland
• The Ukrainian View – Gabriele Haselsberger, Austrian Trade Commissioner for Ukraine
• Rebuilding Ukraine – Thomas Matejka, CFO, Raiffeisen Bank Ukraine

Moderation: Cosima Steiner, Advantage Austria

12.50-13.00 Summary and Outlook