President of the Chamber
GHEORGHE MARIAN CRISTESCU
Gheorghe Marian Cristescu began his adventure in the hotel industry over 19 years ago. Before joining Chopin Airport Development (CAD), he gained professional experience working in Poland for several international companies, which included 3 years at the Radisson chain, over 10 years at Accor Hotels and then over 4 years at Best Western. Cristescu’s strong job performance and excellent knowledge of the market has enabled Best Western to become the leader on the Polish franchise hotel market in recent years. In February 2015, Cristescu was named Director for Poland and the Baltic Countries, Best Western International. In April 2016, Gheorghe Cristescu became Chairman of the Board of Chopin Airport Development – a company established by State Enterprise “Porty Lotnicze” (PPL), whose mission is to carry out investments next to airports. CAD is the investor, operator and administrator of existing buildings and investments realized from beginning to end. Two hotels in Warsaw and Katowice are in the construction phase. Mr. Cristescu won several awards, including “Personality of the Year 2012”, granted by the magazine Hotelarz and the titel ``Man of the Year``.
Vice-President of the Chamber
ERYKA GIZIŃSKA PhD
Eryka Gizińska, PhD in economics, is an executive director with extensive international experience. For over 20 years, she has been focusing on managing and coordinating international projects in the following industries: IT, pharmaceutical, chemical and industrial. She has strong competences in the field of marketing and corporate communication, investor relations and the CSR area. For years, she managed some of the largest and most admired brands in the world. She started her career in marketing and PR at Microsoft, and after a few years she became the Communications Director at IBM. Later, she worked as Marketing and PR Director at Johnson&Johnson Medical Devices, responsible for Poland and the Baltic States. She also worked in high managerial positions in Polish companies: CIECH S.A. as Marketing and Communications Director and US Pharmacia as Communications Director. She graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics, Faculty of Management and Marketing. At the same university, she prepared and defended in 2020 her doctoral dissertation entitled "Polish executive staff in light of long-term post-crisis implications – exemplified by IT and Pharmaceutical Sectors.” Privately fascinated by Romania and the culture of this country, since 2016 she has been involved in bilateral business projects and actively participates in economic missions.
Executive Director
ADAM SOBIESZKODA
Business consultant in the area of business development in foreign markets, mainly in the Romanian market. He has several years of experience in consultancy in international business development and foreign market entries, as well as in international sales. He has completed many projects in the field of international business development for small, medium and large Polish and foreign enterprises in the following industries: agri-food, machinery, metalworking, industrial production. He graduated from the Warsaw School of Economics with a master's degree and the Poznań University of Economics and Business with a bachelor’s degree.
Member of Audit Committee
Prof. PAWEŁ ŚLIWIŃSKI
Doctor of Economic Sciences, head of the Department of International Finance and professor at the Poznan University of Economics. He studied at the University of Economics in Poznań, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, as well as at the Universities of Tilburg (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium). He holds licenses as an advisor in public securities trading (FSC license No. 111) and as a securities broker (FSC license No. 1094). Vice Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Nationale-Nederlanden Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń na Życie S.A. and Nationale-Nederlanden Towarzystwo Ubezpieczeń S.A. Chairman of the Board of INC S.A. (listed on the main market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange) and INC Brokerage House S.A.
Honorary Consul of Romania in Kraków, Member of Audit Committee
IGNAT TIMAR
born in Bistrita, Bistrita-Nasaud County - Romania. After the revolution in 1989, Poles from Kraków came to Romania with humanitarian aid, with whom he established friendly relations. After several trips to Poland, at the invitation of Poles from Kraków, they jointly decided to continue his education in Poland - he graduated from high school and studies at the University of Economics in Kraków. During high school and university, he deepened his knowledge of Polish-Romanian cooperation. Professionally, he learned about the economic relations of both countries, and privately, he was interested in history, tourism, sports, and other fields of culture intertwining in Polish-Romanian relations. After graduating, he worked as a consultant for Polish and Romanian companies. He cooperated with the Honorary Consulate of Romania in Katowice and took part in economic missions both in Poland and Romania. In the early 2000s, he met the Polish-Romanian Society in Krakow. Initially, he participated in meetings as a member of the Society, then as a member of the Management Board, and since 2009 he has been the president of the Management Board of the Society. It has been twenty years since he lived in Poland. From the very beginning, he explains the culture and history of Romania to Poles, and when he is in his homeland, he talks about Poland. He works professionally in a company from the electronics and IT industry – PLATINET S.A. where he serves as Export Manager for Romania and Republic of Moldova and is a member of the supervisory board of PLATINET S.A. He is married and has two children who are brought up in Polish-Romanian culture - they always go to Romania on vacation so that the children can also learn about the other half of their identity.
