Wojciech Kostrzewa

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Wojciech Kostrzewa
Born (1960-10-18) October 18, 1960 (age 63)
Warsaw, Poland
Alma materUniversity of Kiel
Occupation(s)manager, entrepreneur
TitleChairman of Billon
AwardsOrder of Polonia Restituta

Wojciech Kostrzewa (pronounced [ˈvɔjt͡ɕɛx kɔstˈʂɛva]; born October 18, 1960) is a Polish manager and an entrepreneur, chairman of Billon Group, deputy chairman of Ergo Hestia [pl], member of the board of directors at Stadler Rail and president of the Polish Business Roundtable [pl].

Education and academic activity[edit]

Wojciech Kostrzewa graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Kiel in 1987. He also studied law at the University of Warsaw in 1979–1981. In 1981, together with four other students from Austria, Hungary, and West Germany, he founded the European Law Students' Association (ELSA).[1] In 1984–1991, he worked as a graduate assistant at the University of Kiel and later became a researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. He published several academic papers on economics and finance.[2]

Professional career[edit]

In 1989–1991, Wojciech Kostrzewa served as an economic advisor to the Polish Finance Minister, Leszek Balcerowicz.[3] In 1990–1995, he was the CEO of the Polish Development Bank (Polski Bank Rozwoju).[4][5] In 1996, he became deputy CEO, and in 1998 President and CEO of BRE Bank (today's mBank),[6] where he worked until 2004. In 2002–2004, he was also the regional director of Commerzbank, responsible for its operations in Central and Eastern Europe.[7] At that time, he was reported to be the only Pole who occupied a high managerial position at a foreign private bank.[8] In 2005–2018, he was the President and CEO of ITI Group and long-term chairman of the supervisory board of TVN,[9][10] one of the biggest Polish private TV broadcasters in the period of his presidency.[11][12] He was also co-founder and co-owner of Quedex Bitcoin Derivatives Exchange[13] licensed by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC).[14]

In 2018–2024, he was CEO of the Polish-British fintech company Billon,[15] a FCA[16] and PFSA[17] registered e-money institution, which develops a technology to store and transfer regulated currencies and other data based on a proprietary blockchain. In 2024, he became the company's chairman.[18] Currently, Wojciech Kostrzewa is also member of the board of directors of the Swiss railway rolling stock manufacturer Stadler Rail (since 2012),[19] member of supervisory boards of the Ergo Hestia insurance group's companies (since 2017),[20] owner and chairman of the Pascal Publishing House. In 2020–2023, he was member of the supervisory board of the Polish branch of Canal+.[21]

He was one of the founders and in 2004–2007 president of the German-Polish Chamber of Commerce and Industry [de].[22] In 2007–2020, he served as vice president of the Polish Confederation Lewiatan (Konfederacja Lewiatan), a Polish nationwide employers' organization, where he currently serves as member of the General Council.[23] In 2015, he was elected vice president, and in 2019 president of the Polish Business Roundtable (Polska Rada Biznesu), organization of owners and CEOs of largest companies in Poland.[24] In 2021, he was re-elected to serve his second term.[25] In 2023, he began his third term.[26]

Honors[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The 30th Jubilee of the European Law Students' Association". mtp.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  2. ^ "Wojciech Julian Kostrzewa". Econstor. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  3. ^ JPRS Report: East Europe, Foreign Broadcast Information Service, May 1991, p. 7.
  4. ^ Richard W. Stevenson (February 23, 1993), "Poles Forge Private Bank System". New York Times.
  5. ^ Business and Economic Yearbook, The Warsaw Voice, 1999, p. 43.
  6. ^ Nigel Holloway (October 2, 2000), "Let 3 Million Flowers Bloom". Forbes.
  7. ^ The Europa World Year 2004, vol. I: International organizations. Countries: Afghanistan – Jordan, Europa Publications Taylor & Francis Group, 2004, p. 2043.
  8. ^ "Giving media the Midas touch". bankier.pl. January 12, 2005. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  9. ^ "TVN S.A. – Powołanie nowych członków do Rady Nadzorczej TVN S.A." bankier.pl (in Polish). May 11, 2005. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  10. ^ "TVN: Appointment of the Supervisory Board members of TVN S.A." marketscreener.com. June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  11. ^ Ben Fenton, Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, and Jan Cienski (September 23, 2011), "Vivendi and Time Warner vie for Poland’s TVN". Financial Times.
  12. ^ Nicole Levy (March 16, 2015), "Scripps Networks acquires majority stake in Polish broadcaster". Politico.
  13. ^ "About". quedex.net. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  14. ^ "Quedex Awarded DLT Licence by Gibraltar Financial Services Commission - 563/2019". gibraltar.gov.gi. The official website of the HM Government of Gibraltar. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  15. ^ "Wojtek Kostrzewa is the new CEO of Billon Group". press.billongroup.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  16. ^ "Billon is the first Polish company to feature on FinTech50". paymentsjournal.com. June 26, 2018. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  17. ^ "Billon licensed to operate as a e-money institution in EU". enterprisetimes.co.uk. May 1, 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  18. ^ "Big News, Big Changes, New CEO". billongroup.com. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  19. ^ "Board of Directors". stadlerrail.com. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  20. ^ "Management and Supervisory Board". ergohestia.pl (in Polish). Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  21. ^ "Były prezes ITI w radzie nadzorczej Canal+ Polska". press.pl. Press Polska. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  22. ^ "Deutsch-Polnische Handelskammer wird 25 Jahre alt". ahk.pl (in German). Retrieved March 20, 2024.
  23. ^ "General Council". konfederacjalewiatan.pl (in Polish). Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  24. ^ "Wojciech Kostrzewa elected as the new president of the Polish Business Roundtable". prb.pl. 29 May 2019. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  25. ^ "The Polish Business Roundtable's Board for 21–23". prb.pl. 17 June 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
  26. ^ "The leadership of the Polish Business Roundtable for 2023-2025". prb.pl. 1 June 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.
  27. ^ "Dziękuję za zasługi w drodze ku polskiej wolności". prezydent.pl (in Polish). The official website of the President of Poland. June 3, 2015. Archived from the original on June 3, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
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