The economic outlook for central and eastern Europe

Zsoka Koczan

Associate Director, Lead Economist

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Zsoka Koczan is Associate Director, Lead Economist at the EBRD Office of the Chief Economist. At the EBRD, she edits the Regional Economic Prospects, which review the latest economic developments in the EBRD regions, works on the Transition Report, EBRD’s annual flagship publication, and runs the Life in Transition Survey, a large household survey covering over 40 economies. Prior to joining the EBRD, she worked as an economist at the International Monetary Fund in the European and the Research Departments, primarily on the World Economic Outlook. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Valentin Lazea

Chief Economist

National Bank of Romania

Valentin Lazea is a Romanian macroeconomist. He acts as the Chief Economist of the National Bank of Romania (NBR) since 2001. He also served as Charmain and founding member of the Romanian Center for Economic Policies (CEROPE) and as a Chairman of TRANSFOND, an Electronic Payment Company. Mr. Lazea started his career as an economist, researcher, head of monetary policy within the NBR and then secretary of state at the Ministry of Public Finances.

Mr. Lazea is an economist by formation, graduating from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest. He followed post-graduate education abroad, at prestigious institutions like Sussex University Brighton, IMF Institute Washington, Istituto Giardano dell’Amore Milan.

Valentin Lazea has published several research studies and books, the last of which, “A Moral History of Monetary and Fiscal Policies”, has been translated into English and appeared in 2024 in the UK. He has also been teaching at the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest.

David Marsh

Chairman

OMFIF

David Marsh is Chairman and Co-Founder of OMFIF. Before starting at OMFIF in late 2009, he worked for City merchant bank Robert Fleming, corporate finance boutique Hawkpoint, German management consultancy Droege and London investment firm London & Oxford. Marsh took over the chairmanship from John Plender on 1 January 2018 having been Managing Director since 2014. He moved to a non-executive role following John Orchard’s appointment as Chief Executive effective 1 January 2020.

Reiner Martin

Executive Director

National Bank of Slovakia

Reiner Martin is executive director at the National Bank of Slovakia. He was previously deputy head of the macro-financial linkages division at the European Central Bank and research adviser at the Oesterreichische Nationalbank. More recently, his work focuses on financial stability topics, including macroprudential policy, non-performing loan management and resolution.