Žydrūnas Bartkus has accumulated extensive experience at both the national and international level in organizing and implementing anti-corruption and money laundering strategies, creating and improving asset recovery and management systems, promoting inter-institutional and international cooperation. Until 2023 year, Žydrūnas Bartkus worked as the Director of the Lithuanian Special Investigation Service, and was also elected and held the position of President of the European Partners Against Corruption (EPAC/EACN), a network uniting over a hundred institutions from almost 40 European countries.

An accomplished legal professional with a transnational and European focus, bringing over 21 years of extensive experience to the table. With two decades spent in prominent roles within the civil service’s agri-food sector in the Republic of Lithuania, Rolandas has excelled in positions such as Head of Unit, Deputy Director, Director, Chair, Chief Advisor, and Deputy Minister. 

His journey began with pivotal contributions to Lithuania’s accession to the EU, where he played a direct role in legal responsibilities related to agri-food chapters of the Accession Treaty. Rolandas was instrumental in establishing a coordination model and actively represented national interests in legislative processes, both at the EU Council and its working parties, as well as the European Commission’s working fora, including comitology committees. His involvement extended to shaping various roles in all subsequent Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reforms, commencing with Commissioner Fischler’s reform in 2003.

During Lithuania’s EU Presidency in 2013, Rolandas chaired the EU Council’s Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA). In this capacity, he led negotiations and finalized the first-ever CAP reform under co-decision with the European Parliament, covering the period 2014-2020. His leadership extended to managing other major agri-food legislative dossiers at the time.

Possessing firsthand experience of the last two decades of evolving CAP, including its challenges, opportunities, and interactions with other EU policies such as the recent EU’s Green Deal, Rolandas is well-equipped to offer insights and tailored advice to meet the evolving needs of beneficiaries. His direct involvement in various activities and actions of the Lithuanian government and the Ministry of Agriculture related to economic diplomacy and the promotion of intra and extra EU trade of national agri-food production further enhances his value to the project’s goals, including support for fulfilling commitments under the Association Agreement (AA) and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA).

Gabriela Scutea achieved a 27-years long career for the Prosecutor’s Office in Romania (Public Ministry) and served as General Prosecutor from February 2020 to February 2023. In addition to the managerial positions within the Public Ministry (2006-2013 – Deputy General Prosecutor, and Chief or Deputy Prosecutor within territorial offices in Brasov County), she gained experience within the central administration, serving for the Ministry of Justice of Romania in 2016 as State Secretary.

In her high-level prosecutor capacity, Gabriela took active part in meetings of the CCPE (Council of Europe format) and the Consultative Forum (EU Member States format).

Between 2013-2016, she acted within the Permanent Representation of Romania to the EU, covering the field of Justice, including the specific instrument for Romania’s Cooperation and Verification Mechanism (benchmarks on the independence and efficiency of the judiciary, and fighting corruption). She is fulfilling the tasks of High Level Adviser on Justice and Prosecution since September 2023, assisting the management of the Ministry of Justice on EU accession matters.

Prof. Dragos Mihael Ciuparu is a chemical engineer by training with a Ph.D. from the University of Paris 7 “Denis Diderot”. He spent almost 7 years with the Department of Chemical Engineering at Yale University, first as a post-doctoral fellow, and later as Research Scientist. At the end of 2005 he returned to the Petroleum – Gas University of Ploiesti, Romania, establishing a new research group and obtaining the title of professor.

Prof. Ciuparu has published over 70 peer reviewed papers, co-authored 3 technical books, and holds 5 US patents. Prof. Ciuparu’s involvement in public administration and policy-making started as a member of the Presidential Commission for Education and Research Policy, widely credited with contributing to the jumpstart of the sectoral reform process in Romania, and of the National Council for Scientific Research. Between 2010 and 2012 he was President of the National Authority for Scientific Research, managing all policy-making and competitive research funding programs in Romania. Starting with January 2020 he was appointed Secretary of State for research within Ministry of Education and Research, and from June to September 2021, he was Secretary of State for research within the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalization.

Romanian police quaestor with over 21 years of experience starting as Crime Investigation Officer, Analyst, and Manager of Intelligence Analysis and witness protection units for 14 years and First Deputy of the General Inspector of Romanian Police.

Extensive expertise in capacity building, product, and process design aimed at increasing the safety and security of citizens whilst maximizing institutional efficiency, accountability, and responsibility.

International proficiency as policy contributor and strategy developer acting in various capacities at European level:

• Chair of Standing Committee on Internal Security (COSI) within the Council of EU

• Head of delegation for the Law Enforcement Working Party with the Council of EU

• Project manager, Component Leader and Expert of Twinning, Research and Innovation and Cohesion Funds

Martin Sieg has served as an adviser to German and international governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Most recently he was Director of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung in Romania and the Republic of Moldova from 2017-2021. Sieg holds doctorates in history and political science and has taught security policy, European integration, and EU foreign relations at the Universität Frankfurt/Oder, Freie Universität Berlin, and Universität Passau.

Alexandru Sandulescu is a highly-experienced energy expert with over 40 years of professional activity. Mr. Sandulescu holds a Master’s degree in Energy from the Bucharest Technical University and a PhD in Energy Markets. He also studied utility regulation at the University of Florida in Gainesville, United States and Sherbrooke University in Montreal. Before his current assignment in the Republic of Moldova, Mr. Sandulescu held several key positions in Romania energy sector, including Director for Energy at the Romanian Ministry of Economy, as well as General Director at the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE), and Researcher and Programme Director at ICEMENRG, a national energy engineering and research institute.

In his role of EU High-Level Adviser on Energy, he provides policy advice to Moldovan authorities aiming to create competitive energy markets based on the EU energy acquis; to increase energy security of supply by promoting the gas and electricity interconnections with EU networks; to develop a sustainable energy sector by increasing the use of renewable energy sources and through energy efficiency projects. Transposing and implementing EU legislation in energy along with advancing the Reform Agenda are also key priorities of Mr. Sandulescu.

Pavlos Kollias is a senior Economist with extensive, multi-sectoral professional experience of over 35 years in programming, strategic planning and , programme/- and project formulation. He managed and coordinated multi-disciplinary, multinational teams in the context of various capacity building programmes/projects in the areas of Regional and Local Economic Development, Cross-Border/Transnational & Interregional Cooperation, Public Administration Reform, Organisational & Human Resources Development, Employment/Labour Market and Social policies, Vocational Education & Training, Business- and SME Development.

Working internationally in the last 23+ years as Team Leader/Senior Expert in the context of a large number of EU funded (PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD, CARDS, IPA, European Neighbourhood Instrument, NDICI) projects in 14 EU candidate or associated countries in Central & Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Neighbourhood/EaP Region. Pavlos Kollias has additional experience as Institutional Management Specialist for the World Bank in the Middle East.

An extensive international consulting career committed to:

• assessing and improving governance structures at central, regional and local levels,
• supporting the formulation of National and Sectoral Programmes and designing National and Sectoral/Regional Development strategies and policies,
• providing technical assistance and institutional capacity building support to the public administration, Central Ministries and Sectoral/Regional Agencies,
• performing functions entrusted to Managing, Paying Authorities and/or Intermediate Bodies in EU pre-accession countries and/or supporting them during the post-accession stages,
• assisting the Governments of associated countries of the EU Neighbourhood in implementing their EU Association Agreements for strengthening their administrative capacities, designing/managing the partnership building process, drafting/implementing the National Development Strategies and Programmes, Regional Development Plans and Sectoral/Regional Operational Programmes, integrating the national sectoral/regional strategic priorities with the regions’ own policy objectives, utilising their endogenous potential and comparative advantages to enhance regional and local competitiveness, and developing their respective project pipelines.

Primož Vehar is a lawyer from Slovenia, with advanced studies and a Master’s degree in Political Science focused on the organization of legal approximation in the EU accession process.

He began his career (now spanning over 30 years) in the Slovenian public administration, serving as a legal drafter responsible for organizing legal approximation and implementing the Association Agreement within the Government Office of Legislation. He also spent one year in the judiciary, during which he passed the bar exam.

During Slovenia’s EU accession negotiations, he provided legal support to the core negotiating team and worked extensively on legal approximation.
In the last two years of the negotiations, he served as Secretary of the EU Affairs Committee in the National Parliament, helping establish the Committee and implement changes to parliamentary rules of procedure in preparation for EU accession. He was also part of the team that prepared constitutional amendments and the Law on Cooperation between the National Assembly and the Government on EU matters.

His involvement across all three branches of law (executive, judiciary, and legislature) during and immediately after the accession process enabled him to transition into independent legal consultancy back in 2005, primarily supporting Western Balkan countries on EU-funded projects related to legal approximation and the organization of accession negotiations.

Primož served as a Senior Adviser at OECD/SIGMA for five years, supporting public administration reform in Western Balkan countries and Ukraine. Since 2020, he has been working in Moldova as Team Leader and Legal Approximation Expert on an EU-funded project supporting the implementation of the Association Agreement, legal approximation, and the organization of the EU accession process.

From September 2025, he holds the position of Deputy Team Leader, responsible for Institutional Reform and Legal Approximation on the EU-funded project “Moldova is Europe: Support for EU Integration.”

Klaudijus Maniokas holds a PhD in the field of Social Sciences from the University of Vilnius (for his thesis EU Enlargement and Europeanization).
He spent more than 10 years dealing with Lithuania’s accession to the EU and finished his civil service career as the Deputy Chief Negotiator and Deputy Director General of the European Committee under the Government of Lithuania.

Since 2004, as the Chairman of the board of the consulting firm ESTEP, he has led multiple consultancy and research assignments focused on European integration and development, specifically public sector reforms, EU accession management, and planning and evaluation of the EU structural funds interventions working with the European Commission services, SIGMA, EIB, World Bank and other organizations.

He has been consulting the governments of Eastern Europe and Western Balkans on these matters for the last twenty years. His most recent positions have been the Team Leader of the Support to European Integration project in Albania (2021-2024) and a Screening Expert for Ukraine2EU Program (2024-2025).

With a Master’s Degree in International Relations, Iana has 16 years of professional experience in strategic communication, being the lead of several large-scale awareness raising campaigns including at national level, high-level events, development and maintenance of public institutions’ and development partners’ web sites, development of numerous information and visibility products.

She started her career as a journalist, and since 2009 has been working for several international development partners’ projects in Moldova, among which UN, World Bank, UNDP, EU, being in charge of communication & awareness raising campaigns in fields like central public administration reform, human rights and gender equality, development aid coordination, youth policies. She also has had the experience of being Adviser and Spokesperson of the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

In 2014, Iana joined the EU High Level Advisers’ Mission as Communication Expert and has been in charge of communication of several missions since then. In 2025, she became the Key Expert on Communication of the “Moldova is Europe – Support for EU Integration” project. She also holds a degree in English and German philology.

Ana has over 12 years of professional experience, having worked with both government institutions and international organizations. She holds two master’s degrees in Economics and International Relations. 

Throughout her career, Ana has taken on roles within various ministries, where she participated in the adjustment of national legal frameworks to align with EU acquis, contributed to the development of ministerial, intergovernmental, and international agreements, and overseeing their implementation. Her expertise includes project management, financial oversight, and building strategic relationships with stakeholders, delivering key project outcomes while ensuring compliance with donor regulations.

Prior to joining the team of the project “Moldova is Europe – Support for EU Integration”, Ana worked for the EU funded Twinning projects, latest in the “Strengthening supervision, corporate governance and risk management in the financial sector”, aimed to support the National Bank of Moldova in carrying out reforms related to enhance supervision, corporate governance, and risk management in the financial sector. 

Fluent in Romanian and English, she has completed specialized training in international politics, integrity, and diplomatic communication at several EU institutions

Catalina possesses a well-rounded and expanding background in sustainability, agri-food policy, and project implementation. She gained early experience working on sustainability and environmental projects in Bucharest, later building practical expertise in Moldova by supporting international development initiatives in the agri-food and environmental sectors. She has taken part in organising high-level visits, coordinating expert missions, preparing analytical reports, and facilitating events with international partners. These responsibilities have strengthened her understanding of sustainability frameworks, food security, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—particularly those focused on environmental protection and resilient agri-food systems.

Catalina’s leadership, communication, and intercultural collaboration skills were further enhanced through initiatives such as the Young European Ambassadors Programme and through her diverse international education.

She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in the Netherlands and obtained her MBA in Bucharest, equipping her with a strong foundation to work effectively with experts from varied cultural and institutional backgrounds.

Cornelia has a comprehensive background related to initiatives supported by international donors both for the public administration and in civil society. Her previous experience as training and local coordinator and a proven track record in planning, organizing and implementing project activities equipped her with skills in liaising with stakeholders, advising project management, ensuring quality outputs, maintaining budgetary compliance, drafting project documents. Cornelia’s prior roles also include assisting EU High-Level Advisers in education and financial-banking sectors, along with roles as a translator/interpreter providing language support and logistical assistance. 

Having licentiate degree in Spanish and English Languages as well as in Business Law, Cristina has more than 15 years of hands-on experience in translation and interpretation, being employed as translator/interpreter on ad hoc (freelancer) and regular bases by various EU and USAID funded projects. She also gained experience in working as local facilitator, providing assistance and support during Deloitte Consulting missions to Moldova. Cristina is a detail-oriented and reliable person, open for new knowledge and committed to meeting deadlines.

Marina is a lawyer with five years of legal experience. Her area of expertise is business operations and commerce, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and restructuring, litigation.

Marina consulted previously on projects related to infrastructure, energy field and contributed to different publications on the Moldovan regulatory, doing business, as well as justice reform.

Currently, her subject of interest has switched to the banking and finance sector. Marina holds a Bachelor and Master of Laws degree.

Ina Camerzan holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova and completed the Intensive Programme in European Law and Economics at the Riga Graduate School of Law. She has developed a solid background working with international organizations, with experience in programmes and projects implementation and donor-funded consultancy.

Her professional background includes working with the Council of Europe Office in Chisinau on an anti-corruption project closely interlinked to national reform processes and the implementation of international standards. She also has experience supporting the implementation of educational programmes at the American Councils for International Education, as well as providing consultancy and analytical support for agriculture projects funded by international donors.

Cezara Cebanu is an experienced specialist with more than ten years of expertise in European integration, education policy, and international cooperation, with a professional background in EU-funded initiatives and consular diplomacy. Since 2019, she has been a key member of the European Union High-Level Advisers’ Mission in Moldova, acting as Junior Non-Key Expert and Assistant to the EU High-Level Adviser on Education and Research. Since 2025, she has been acting in the same position in the project “Moldova is Europe – Support for EU Integration”. In this role, she supports the implementation of national reforms in education, research, youth, sports, dual education and culture. Her earlier experience includes consular service for the Republic of Moldova in Italy and participation in EU Twinning on cultural heritage protection.

She holds a Master’s degree in European Integration: EU Policies and Community Project Planning from the University of Padua (Italy) and a second Master’s degree in Work and Organizational Psychology from Moldova State University.

Cezara is recognized for her diplomatic mindset, organizational skills, intercultural sensitivity, and commitment to public service and European values.