Our team

Founded in 2017, the European Expert Association takes no position on matters of policy and supports having open discussions about change and the future of Ukraine. Our goal is to sustain the conversations about the need for Ukrainians to better understand the world. The experts of the European Expert Association promote analysis of the political, economic, social and security reforms in Ukraine. 

BOARD

Graduated from the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Kharkiv, Ukraine with a degree in law. Head of the foreign economic direction in a domestic commercial business structure. Has a significant experience of work in Ukrainian state-owned companies of the energy sector with European and Middle East partners. The freelance correspondent of the State company "World Service Ukraine Radio and Television”. Has a profound experience in political consulting on Ukrainian issues at the offices of members of the European Parliament.
His fields of expertise are government relations, economic and information security. Oleksii provides consulting services in the field of SMM, perspectives of introducing blockchain technologies, security of negotiation activities.
  • Graduated from the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, Kharkiv, Ukraine with a degree in law. Head of the foreign economic direction in a domestic commercial business structure. Has a significant experience of work in Ukrainian state-owned companies of the energy sector with European and Middle East partners. The freelance correspondent of the State company "World Service Ukraine Radio and Television”. Has a profound experience in political consulting on Ukrainian issues at the offices of members of the European Parliament.
    His fields of expertise are government relations, economic and information security. Oleksii provides consulting services in the field of SMM, perspectives of introducing blockchain technologies, security of negotiation activities.

Oleksii Komarov
Chairman of the European Expert Association

Research Director at the European Expert Association she focuses on international security, Ukraine-EU relations and emerging security challenges. In addition, she analyses information operations, efforts to counter disinformation, and threats to democracy. She has developed her expertise through working at the National Institute for Strategic Studies and several NGO and think thank projects. She is author and instructor of a course on Information Security, conducted as part of a National Security Course.
Maria Avdeeva obtained her masters degree in International Law and Legal Studies from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University and did PhD Program in Political Sciences. In addition to being a native speaker of Ukrainian, she is fluent in English and Russian and speaks German.  
  • Research Director at the European Expert Association she focuses on international security, Ukraine-EU relations and emerging security challenges. In addition, she analyses information operations, efforts to counter disinformation, and threats to democracy. She has developed her expertise through working at the National Institute for Strategic Studies and several NGO and think thank projects. She is author and instructor of a course on Information Security, conducted as part of a National Security Course.
    Maria Avdeeva obtained her masters degree in International Law and Legal Studies from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University and did PhD Program in Political Sciences. In addition to being a native speaker of Ukrainian, she is fluent in English and Russian and speaks German.  

Maria Avdeeva
Research Director

EXPERTS

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c., Thomas Kruessmann LL.M. (King’s College) is a German-qualified lawyer with many years of experience working as attorney-at-law and consultant. Senior Expert Counsel with Lansky, Ganzger + Partner in Vienna, Сo-ordinator of the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education Project “Modernisation of master programmes for future judges, prosecutors, investigators with respect to European standard on human rights” for Ukraine and Belarus with the University of Graz. President of the Association of European Studies for the Caucasus. He is founding director of the Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies Centre at the University of Graz (2010-2015). His research interests extend to issues of comparative, European and international criminal law, as well as corruption and compliance. Member of the Supervisory Board of Higher School of Jurisprudence / Higher School of Economics in Moscow and maintains close relations with a number of leading universities in Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia. Currently, he is also the Academic Director of the Master programme "International Corporate Compliance and Business Ethics" at Higher School of Economics.
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c., Thomas Kruessmann LL.M. (King’s College) is a German-qualified lawyer with many years of experience working as attorney-at-law and consultant. Senior Expert Counsel with Lansky, Ganzger + Partner in Vienna, Сo-ordinator of the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education Project “Modernisation of master programmes for future judges, prosecutors, investigators with respect to European standard on human rights” for Ukraine and Belarus with the University of Graz. President of the Association of European Studies for the Caucasus. He is founding director of the Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies Centre at the University of Graz (2010-2015). His research interests extend to issues of comparative, European and international criminal law, as well as corruption and compliance. Member of the Supervisory Board of Higher School of Jurisprudence / Higher School of Economics in Moscow and maintains close relations with a number of leading universities in Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia. Currently, he is also the Academic Director of the Master programme "International Corporate Compliance and Business Ethics" at Higher School of Economics.

Thomas Kruessmann
Professor Dr. Dr. h.c., Senior Expert Counsel with Lansky, Ganzger + Partner in Vienna

Sc.D. in Economics, Deputy Director of the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Professor at the Department of Economics at the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Member of National Council for Science and Technology Development under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Member of the Academic Council of Scientific and Technical Complex for Statistical Research of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Editorial board member of the academic journals: Science and Science of Science (Ukraine), Economy and Forecasting (Ukraine), Problems of Science (Ukraine). Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Center for International Science and Technology Policy, George Washington University (1995–1996). Visiting Scholar at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2004). Expert of the European Commission project Enhance Innovation Strategies, Policies and Regulation in Ukraine. Expert of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the consultant (expert) of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Member of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy and the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology.
  • Sc.D. in Economics, Deputy Director of the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Professor at the Department of Economics at the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Member of National Council for Science and Technology Development under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. Member of the Academic Council of Scientific and Technical Complex for Statistical Research of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. Editorial board member of the academic journals: Science and Science of Science (Ukraine), Economy and Forecasting (Ukraine), Problems of Science (Ukraine). Visiting Fulbright Scholar at the Center for International Science and Technology Policy, George Washington University (1995–1996). Visiting Scholar at the Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2004). Expert of the European Commission project Enhance Innovation Strategies, Policies and Regulation in Ukraine. Expert of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and the consultant (expert) of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Member of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy and the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology.

Igor Egorov
Sc.D. in Economics, Deputy Director of the Institute for Economics and Forecasting of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Associate professor in Criminology and penitentiary law’ academic department of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. Senior research fellow in theAcademician Stashis Scientific Research Institute for the study of Crime problems. Head of the Public Council of the Kharkiv regional Department of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine. Head of the NGO «Legal Aid Center». Member of the supervision committee under the Kharkiv regional administration. Permanent member of the Parliament subcommittee’ working group on penitentiary issues. Has drafted 5 legislation acts and was member of the group drafting 10 legislation acts in penitentiary sphere. National expert in CoE Project “Further Support of Penitentiary reform”. Has good experience of cooperation with the Norwegian Mission of Rule of Law Advisers to Ukraine, Charity organization “Renaissance”, Charity organization “The Light of Hope”, Penal reform international.

  • Associate professor in Criminology and penitentiary law’ academic department of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. Senior research fellow in theAcademician Stashis Scientific Research Institute for the study of Crime problems. Head of the Public Council of the Kharkiv regional Department of the State Penitentiary Service of Ukraine. Head of the NGO «Legal Aid Center». Member of the supervision committee under the Kharkiv regional administration. Permanent member of the Parliament subcommittee’ working group on penitentiary issues. Has drafted 5 legislation acts and was member of the group drafting 10 legislation acts in penitentiary sphere. National expert in CoE Project “Further Support of Penitentiary reform”. Has good experience of cooperation with the Norwegian Mission of Rule of Law Advisers to Ukraine, Charity organization “Renaissance”, Charity organization “The Light of Hope”, Penal reform international.

Kostiantyn Avtukhov
Associate professor in criminology and penitentiary law, Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University.
PhD in Political Science, Professor Assistant in Political Science Department at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Alumna of Fulbright Program, former fellow in Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, participant of the international summer schools on democracy, the EU politics in Estonia and Germany. Earlier Research Assistant at National Institute for Strategic Studies (Kharkiv Branch). The author of series of articles about Ukrainian government institutions, formal and informal politics in Ukraine, executive relationships, peace-building.
  • PhD in Political Science, Professor Assistant in Political Science Department at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Alumna of Fulbright Program, former fellow in Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna, participant of the international summer schools on democracy, the EU politics in Estonia and Germany. Earlier Research Assistant at National Institute for Strategic Studies (Kharkiv Branch). The author of series of articles about Ukrainian government institutions, formal and informal politics in Ukraine, executive relationships, peace-building.

Uliana Movchan
PhD in Political Science, Professor Assistant in Political Science Department at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University

Taras Danko is the economist, civil activist, international business consultant and researcher in Kharkiv. His primary job is at the National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” where currently he is the professor of International Business at the International Business Management Bachelor/Master Degree Program in English. His research interests are in the areas of international marketing, high-tech marketing, innovation, knowledge economy and international cluster collaboration. He has vast international experience mostly through EU and US educational projects since 1994. As the civil activist, he is actively involved in the initiatives aiming at the European integration of Ukraine, democracy consolidation in Ukraine, economic development and internationalization of Kharkiv. In particular, he is an expert at the Team Europe project, author of Kharkiv Going Global initiative, co-founder of Kharkiv Observer, the news and opinions website in English.
  • Taras Danko is the economist, civil activist, international business consultant and researcher in Kharkiv. His primary job is at the National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” where currently he is the professor of International Business at the International Business Management Bachelor/Master Degree Program in English. His research interests are in the areas of international marketing, high-tech marketing, innovation, knowledge economy and international cluster collaboration. He has vast international experience mostly through EU and US educational projects since 1994. As the civil activist, he is actively involved in the initiatives aiming at the European integration of Ukraine, democracy consolidation in Ukraine, economic development and internationalization of Kharkiv. In particular, he is an expert at the Team Europe project, author of Kharkiv Going Global initiative, co-founder of Kharkiv Observer, the news and opinions website in English.

Taras Danko
Professor of International Business, National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”

Ph.D. in political sciences. Graduated from the Institute of International Relations of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, where also submitted dissertation research. She has also Master's degree in European Studies from the European University of Viadrina (Frankfurt/Oder, Germany). Participated in the Internship programs in the German Bundestag, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and the Legislative Fellowship Program (Virginia, USA). Worked at the National Academy of Public Administration under the Presidents of Ukraine and the Office of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, where was responsible for cooperation with the EU and its members. Has different scientific publications on international issues i.a. European integration, foreign policy of EU members, German policy. Currently, Lidiya Prymachenko is working at the KfW Development Bank (Frankfurt / Main, Germany).

  • Ph.D. in political sciences. Graduated from the Institute of International Relations of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University, where also submitted dissertation research. She has also Master's degree in European Studies from the European University of Viadrina (Frankfurt/Oder, Germany). Participated in the Internship programs in the German Bundestag, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany and the Legislative Fellowship Program (Virginia, USA). Worked at the National Academy of Public Administration under the Presidents of Ukraine and the Office of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, where was responsible for cooperation with the EU and its members. Has different scientific publications on international issues i.a. European integration, foreign policy of EU members, German policy. Currently, Lidiya Prymachenko is working at the KfW Development Bank (Frankfurt / Main, Germany).

Lidiya Prymachenko
 Ph.D. in political sciences, working at the KfW Development Bank (Frankfurt / Main, Germany)
Ph.D., the head of research laboratory NioGuard Security Lab with 15-year experience in the analysis of cyberattacks. He teaches cyber security at the National University of Radio Electronics and Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden and conducts scientific activities in the areas of malware analysis and development of methods for cyber threats detection using AI. He is a co-author of the EU Master's Program in Cyber Security within ENGENSEC project. In cooperation with OSCE, he trained the Cyberpolice of Ukraine.
  • Ph.D., the head of research laboratory NioGuard Security Lab with 15-year experience in the analysis of cyberattacks. He teaches cyber security at the National University of Radio Electronics and Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden and conducts scientific activities in the areas of malware analysis and development of methods for cyber threats detection using AI. He is a co-author of the EU Master's Program in Cyber Security within ENGENSEC project. In cooperation with OSCE, he trained the Cyberpolice of Ukraine.

Alexander Adamov
Ph.D., National University of Radio Electronics

Associate Professor of the Information Security Department of the Institute of Physics and Technology, National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". Director of the Kyiv division of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Vice Director of the Anti-crisis Cybersecurity Center of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce. Expert on incident response, software security assessment, penetration tests, forensic investigations, security audits, web security, security of special information systems. Prize winner of the President of Ukraine Award for Young Scientists (2018).
  • Associate Professor of the Information Security Department of the Institute of Physics and Technology, National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute". Director of the Kyiv division of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Vice Director of the Anti-crisis Cybersecurity Center of the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce. Expert on incident response, software security assessment, penetration tests, forensic investigations, security audits, web security, security of special information systems. Prize winner of the President of Ukraine Award for Young Scientists (2018).

Oleksii Baranovskyi
Ph.D., National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute"

Earlier research fellow at Kharkiv Institute for Social Research (Kharkiv, Ukraine). Member of Sociological Association of Ukraine. Alumna of the Professional Fellows Program under U.S. Department of State – 2019 (University of San Diego, USA). Participant of studying and research programmes on democracy, European Union policies, and human rights in Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. 10 years of conducting sociological research and assessments. Since 2018, working with civic education under the International Foundation for Electoral Systems – taught democracy course at Karazin University and trained university educators in interactive teaching methods. Expertise areas include democracy, civil society, disinformation, and populism.
  • Earlier research fellow at Kharkiv Institute for Social Research (Kharkiv, Ukraine). Member of Sociological Association of Ukraine. Alumna of the Professional Fellows Program under U.S. Department of State – 2019 (University of San Diego, USA). Participant of studying and research programmes on democracy, European Union policies, and human rights in Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom. 10 years of conducting sociological research and assessments. Since 2018, working with civic education under the International Foundation for Electoral Systems – taught democracy course at Karazin University and trained university educators in interactive teaching methods. Expertise areas include democracy, civil society, disinformation, and populism.

Mariia Kolokolova
PhD in Sociology, Associate Professor at Department of Political Sociology, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.

info@uaeuxperts.org

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