Europe: Bigger Picture - Exploring industry developments

Nikiforos Bantoukoudis, Head of Finance Division, HELLENiQ Upstream

Nikiforos Bantoukoudis holds a BSc and a MSc in Electrical & Computer Engineering from National Technical University of Athens while he is also a member of the Association of Chartered Accountants (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales).

Nikiforos started his career in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Greece, working for 5 years as a management consultant in the Energy, Utilities and Infrastructure department, participating as a project leader in diverse strategic and operational projects with special focus on Strategy & Regulation, Business Reorganization, Performance optimization, Business Planning & Investment Appraisal.

For the last 10 years, Nikiforos has been a member of HELLENiQ ENERGY Group, holding senior positions in the Group’s finance division, currently working as the CFO of HELLENiQ Upstream (the Group’s E&P branch). In addition, he is also a core member of the Group’s “vertical” team investigating CCUS solutions (Carbon Capture Usage and Storage), as part of its decarbonization plan.

Since 2020, he is also member of the Board of Directors in EKO Bulgaria & 9 HELLENiQ’s E&P companies.

Lucie Harwood, CFO, Abundia Global Impact Group

Lucie has over 20 years’ finance experience and has worked across a number of sectors with large multinationals such as Kerry Group and Laird PLC, her recent roles include Interim CFO of Aer Lingus. She has served as the Chief Financial Officer of Abundia Impact Group since 2022. Her knowledge and experience cross all areas of finance but in particular investor relations, risk management, and treasury management. During her career, Lucie has held a number of senior leadership roles in teams of all sizes from large well-established finance functions to more informal cross-functional teams, often during times of significant change or challenge. She is passionate about how finance can, and should, take the lead in driving business value and innovation. Lucie is a UK Chartered Accountant (FCA) and holds a BA (Hons) in Politics and History from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Will Hiscock, Tax Policy Lead, Booking.com

Will is the Tax Policy Lead at Booking.com in Amsterdam and has extensive experience working with a range of businesses and public sector organisations on tax matters. Will has previously worked at PwC, specialising in solving complex tax problems for Financial Services businesses, and at HM Treasury in London where he led the VAT Rates and Refunds policy team. Prior to leaving the UK, Will was a member of the ICAEW VAT Committee and now continues to work on a range of tax policy matters in the EU and OECD.ficiis!

Constantinos Mourouzides, CFO, IKEA UK&IE

Constantinos Mourouzides is the CFO of IKEA UK&IE since October 2019. He has been working for IKEA since 2005, having served in various roles including CFO IKEA Netherlands, INGKA Group Commercial Plan Leader and the first Store Manager and Director of IKEA Cyprus. His previous work experience includes various roles within Retail and Investment Banking with Alpha Bank in Cyprus and P&K Capital in Greece. He is a graduate from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a qualified ACA and a holder of an MBA with distinction from INSEAD. He is also a proud father of Emmelia 13 and Stefanos 9 years old.

Janet Wright, Director, Global Head of Financial Reporting, Fund Administration Operations, Citi

Janet joined Citi in January 2022 as Global Head of Financial Reporting, Securities Services Operations, based in Dublin. She manages reporting teams based in Ireland, UK, Luxembourg, N America, India, Malaysia and Australia.

Janet worked for KPMG in the U.K. and United Arab Emirates and became a partner in KPMG Hong Kong in 2001 with a portfolio of investment and pension funds, asset managers and administrator clients. She came to Dublin in 2008 and joined BNY Mellon as Head of Financial Reporting for EMEA. Janet also spent two years as Head of Outsourcing Governance Ireland at BNY Mellon.

Janet holds a BSc in Computer Science and Accounting from Manchester University, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (FCA) in England and Wales, and of the Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Accountants and is a Qualified Pension Trustee (QPT) in Ireland.

Dan Zubaryev, Head of Accounting, Solaris SE

Dan Zubaryev is the Head of Accounting at Solaris SE, bringing 10 years of experience across fintech, banking, audit, and financial accounting advisory. Before joining Solaris, Dan served as a Senior Manager at N26 and previously worked in audit and financial accounting advisory services at Big 4. With deep expertise in financial reporting, controls, and building scalable finance functions, Dan focuses on helping high-growth organizations strengthen transparency and operational resilience.