Meet The Team
Berlin Economics has both permanent employees and a broad network of research affiliates and associated consultants in Germany and abroad with a large number of experts who work für Berlin Economics on a regularly or on a topic-specific basis.
Management

Dr. Ricardo Giucci
Managing Director
Dr. Ricardo Giucci is Managing Director at Berlin Economics.
His consulting and researching activities focus on monetary, fiscal, and trade policy, as well as regional integration.
After studying economics at the Free University of Berlin, he became a lecturer at the Frankfurt School of Finance and a research fellow at Potsdam University, where he obtained a PhD degree in economics.
Dr. Giucci serves as a high ranking economic policy advisor in several countries, in particular in Ukraine, Belarus, Germany, Moldova, and Georgia, as well as in the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan. He is the team leader of the German Economic Team, active in Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. He also provides regular consultancy services to private companies in the real and in the financial sector.

Robert Kirchner
Authorized Representative
Robert Kirchner has been an authorized signatory at Berlin Economics since 2007. He is Deputy Team Leader of the project „High-level government consultation on behalf the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy“, which includes Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The main objective of the project is to continuously support and monitor economic reform processes in these countries. The consulting activities focus on the topics monetary and exchange rate policy, fiscal policy, debt management, trade and integration policies, development perspectives of the private sector, regulation and attraction of foreign direct investment.
After studying economics at the University of Potsdam and at the Warwick Business School, he worked as a research assistant at the University of Potsdam for five years. His research and consulting focuses on macroeconomics and the financial sector, with a particular focus on transition economies. In addition, Mr. Kirchner is involved in numerous other economic policy consulting projects in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia.

Ilona Kaiser
Accounting and Human Resources
Ilona Kaiser has been an authorized signatory at Berlin Economics since 2019. She is responsible for the financial accounting and human resource management since 2011.
After studying economics at the University of Potsdam, she worked as an accountant and tax consultant for small and medium sized companies.
Business Development and Project Management

Michael von Stackelberg
Bid Manager
Michael von Stackelberg has been working as Bid Manager at Berlin Economics since the beginning of 2021, where he is responsible for the acquisition and management of bid processes as well as project management.
After studying political science with a focus on development policy in Freiburg, Michael von Stackelberg initially worked for GIZ in Germany as well as the external structure. Among other things, he worked in Ghana on sustainable value chains and the cross-cutting issue of IT tools and digitization. He is also a certified EU project manager.

Pascal Emmrich
Project Manager
Pascal Emmrich has been working as a project manager at Berlin Economics since June 2020. He completed his Bachelor of Science at the FH Aachen and his Bachelor of Arts at the Business School “Négocia” in Paris.
He was able to gain experience in project management at Bosch Service Solutions and as a project manager in a marketing agency.

Diana Pascaru
Project Manager
Diana Pascaru works at Berlin Economics since 2017 as a Project Manager.
She graduated in law from State University of Moldova and holds a Master’s of Law Degree in International Law from Humboldt University in Berlin.
Diana Pascaru brings with her a broad experience in the areas of foreign policy, cooperation with international organizations, bilateral economic relations, promotion of foreign investments and development cooperation.

Ina Rumiantseva
Project Manager
Ina Rumiantseva joined Berlin Economics in 2019 as project manager in the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies”, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU). She holds a university diploma from the Chair of Energy Economics at Technical University Dresden.
From 2012 to 2014 Ina Rumiantseva has been working for the German Eastern Business Association (OAOEV) as head of department Belarus, Ukraine and Southern Caucasus.
She accompanied the project “Energy efficient city” in collaboration with the western Ukrainian town of Schowkwa beyond her employment with the OAOEV, among others as coordinator for the initiative “Energy Efficiency Ukraine” (focus housing sector). She has been working with different partners of the initiative, among other with the German Energy Agency (dena) and the Housing Initiative for Eastern Europe (IWO).
Advisors

Dmitry Chervyakov
Dmitry Chervyakov joined Berlin Economics as an Analyst in 2017 and coordinates the activities of the German Economic Team in Belarus.
He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the Freie Universität Berlin in Economics, with a focus on Econometrics and Macroeconomics.
Prior to joining Berlin Economics, Dmitry Chervyakov worked as a Research Assistant in the Macroeconomics and Forecasting departments at the DIW Berlin and was a Research Intern in the area of Global and European Macroeconomics at Bruegel, a Brussels-based economic policy think-tank.

Dr. Frank Meißner
Dr. Frank Meißner works for Berlin Economics as a consultant on energy issues in the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies”, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
His activities focus on renewable energies, clean tech, energy efficiency, climate and environmental policy and environmental economics.
Dr. Frank Meißner holds a doctorate in economics from the University of Potsdam. Mr. Meißner gained experience in scientific work and policy consulting as a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and at the Society for Innovation Research and Consulting (GIB) in Berlin.

Veronika Movchan
Veronika Movchan is an Academic Director at the Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting – IER (Kyiv, Ukraine) and a member of the Editorial Board of VoxUkraine.
She specializes on trade policy, including WTO-related issues, regional integration, non-tariff measures quantification, and modeling of policy changes, including the CGE modelling. She has participated as a short-term expert in projects financed by the EU, World Bank, UNDP, and USAID among others.
Recently she has been focused on impact analysis of the establishment of the DCFTAs with the EU. Mrs. Movchan holds MA in Economics from the National University “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy” (Ukraine).
In the context of the project German Economic Team, she advises Georgian government institutions on economic policy issues.

David Saha
David Saha is a consultant at Berlin Economics, specialising in public finance, sector regulation and the economics of conflicts. He has advised the governments of Ukraine and Georgia since 2014.
He has previously worked at Thuringian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Science and Digital Society and the economic policy think tank Bruegel in Brussels.
Mr. Saha holds a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, a MA in Political Science from Columbia University and a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of York. He is an Alumnus of the German National Merit Foundation.

Clemens Stiewe
Clemens Stiewe joined Berlin Economics in 2018 and works as a Consultant in the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies”, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
After obtaining a B.Sc. in Economics from Potsdam University, he completed a M.Sc. in Econcomics at Freie Universität Berlin.
During his studies, Clemens Stiewe has worked at the German Bundestag, KPMG and with the consultancy Syspons.

Björn Vogler
Björn Vogler has been collaborating with Berlin Economics on various industrial and structural policy issues as well as economic development projects since 2015.
Over the past 20 years, Björn Vogler has lead more than 150 consulting projects concerning industrial policy strategies and programmes, site and cluster development as well as investment promotion. In addition, he has also lead several organizational consulting and capacity development projects for ministries as well as agencies in the field of economic policy and promotion.
His project and leadership experience includes Germany and other EU member countries as well as various developing countries outside the EU. On behalf of the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) he has been supporting a wide range of Eastern European and African countries regarding the planning and the implementation of industrial policy programmes. After positions at the GIZ and different consulting companies, including a position as CEO at Regionomica and as project leader at Prognos, Björn Vogler is now the owner of the consulting company Vogler Economic Development Consultants which is located in Berlin.

Woldemar Walter
Woldemar Walter works as Consultant at Berlin Economics. He coordinates the German Economic Team in Uzbekistan. His work focuses on the fields macroeconomic analysis and trade policy.
Woldemar Walter completed his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in macroeconomics at the Free University of Berlin, and has worked in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Deutsche Bank Research, and the Market Economy Foundation.

Dr. Georg Zachmann
Dr. Georg Zachmann has been with Berlin Economics since its foundation. His consulting work focusses on the energy economy. He manages our Energy and Climate Department and leads the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies” as a team leader. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
Georg Zachmann graduated from the Technical University of Dresden with a doctoral degree on the inefficiency in the European energy market. In addition to his long-time consulting work with the German Advisory Group Ukraine and the German Economic Teams for Belarus, Moldova, and Georgia, Georg Zachmann has worked with the economic think tank Bruegel on energy and climate topics.
Analysts

Julia Breuing
Julia Breuing has been an analyst in the project in the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies”, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), since 2020. She supports the team in the preparation of policy briefings and electricity market simulations.
She holds a B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Bayreuth and a master’s degree in Economics at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. During her studies she worked as an intern at Deutsche Bank Research and Deutsche Bundesbank, where she gained experience in the field of Finance. She had previously been a student assistant at Berlin Economics since May 2019.

Carolin Busch
Carolin Busch has been working for Berlin Economics as an analyst since 2020 and coordinates the consulting activities of the German Economic Team in Moldova.
She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Management, Philosophy and Economics at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a Master’s degree in International Development Studies at the Philipps University of Marburg.
During her studies she worked for GIZ in Tajikistan and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, where she focused on financial inclusion and sustainability in the agricultural sector. In addition, she contributed to the promotion of intercultural education in the Kyrgyz Republic through her participation in the Lectureship Program of the Robert Bosch Stiftung in Asia.

Lukas Feldhaus
Lukas Feldhaus joined Berlin Economics in 2020. He works as an analyst in the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies”, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
After receiving his bachelor degree in physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, he obtained a Masters of International Affairs from both Columbia University in New York and the Hertie School in Berlin in 2020. Throughout grad school, he focused on energy markets, financing sustainable infrastructure in emerging economies and on security politics.
Before joining BE, Lukas has gained work experience at a VC fund in Zurich, the human rights department of the German mission to the UN in Geneva, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, at the science desk of the German weekly “Die ZEIT”, at the Brunswick Group in Berlin and at the Dynamo Energy Hub in New York.

Anne Mdinaradze
Anne Mdinaradze has been an analyst for Berlin Economics since 2016 and works as a Coordinator for the German Economic Team.
After finishing her BA in Interdisciplinary Russia Studies at the University of Potsdam, she studied East European Studies with focus on Economics at the Free University in Berlin. During her MA studies she was an intern at the German Business Association Georgia and the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) in Tbilisi.
Anne Mdinaradze is alumna of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation.

Manuel von Mettenheim
Manuel von Mettenheim has been working for Berlin Economics since 2020 as an analyst in the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies”, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
After completing his bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science at the University of Potsdam, he completed the master’s program in public economics (M.Sc.) at the Free University of Berlin. During his studies, Manuel von Mettenheim worked at the German Embassy in Moscow, the Institute for Eastern European Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO) and the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).

Julian Milek
Julian Milek has been working as an analyst for Berlin Economics since 2020 and focuses on macroeconomic modeling and the development of macroeconomic forecasts.
He studied economics at the Humboldt University of Berlin (B.Sc. and M.Sc.) with a focus on dynamic and monetary macroeconomics as well as economic policy. During his studies he gained practical experience as an intern and working student at DIW Econ, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research and EY.

Garry Poluschkin
Garry Poluschkin has been an analyst in the Berlin Economics team since 2019. He also coordinates the company’s consulting activities in Ukraine.
After studying Business and Economics at the University of Osnabrück and at the Durham University during his Bachelor program, he completed his M.Sc. in Economics with specialisation in Empirical Economics at the University of Osnabrück.
As a student research assistant, he worked for the Institute of Economic Structures Research. During his studies, he gained experience at the ifo Institute and the Deutsche Bundesbank.

Nikolas Schmidt
Nikolas Schmidt joined Berlin Economics in 2020. He manages all consulting activities in Armenia.
Previously, he worked as a strategy consultant for the German public sector and for GIZ in Ukraine. He also gained experience at the German Foreign Office and in business consulting.
He holds a Master of Public Policy with a concentration on policy analysis from the Hertie School in Berlin. He specialised in economic policy and governance in the post-Soviet space during further studies at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow and the Belarusian State University. He conducted his BSc studies in Economics and Politics at the Universities of Bonn and Potsdam.

Sebastian Staske
Sebastian Staske has been working as an analyst for Berlin Economics since 2020 and supports the team in particular in the project “High-level government consultation on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy” with analyses of current consulting topics in Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia and Uzbekistan. Additionally, he coordinates the activities of the German Economic Team in Georgia.
He completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Economics at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. During his studies, he dealt extensively with questions concerning economic growth.
As an analyst, he prepares macroeconomic country analyses and contributes to the writing of policy documents.
Public Relations and Project Assistance

Lucas Unterberg
Lucas Unterberg has been Public Relations Manager at Berlin Economics since November 2020. Before joining BE, he worked as a student trainee at the Council of the Baltic Sea States in Stockholm.
He studied European Studies and Economics in Maastricht and Cologne. His areas of interest include foreign policy, international economic policy and communication.

Alexandra Möller
Since 2018 Alexandra Möller works at Berlin Economics as a Management Assistant and Project Assistant in public relations and governmental advice.
As a qualified foreign language correspondant, she worked as an Assistant for an international energy company, where she gained experience in corporate communications and human resources.

Yanina Valasach
Yanina Valasach joined Berlin Economics in 2019 as a project assistant in government consulting and in the project in the project “Consulting Ukrainian decision makers on low-carbon policies”, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
Yanina Valasach holds a diploma in International Relations from the Belarusian State University in Minsk and a B.A. in Public Relations from the University of Applied Sciences in Hannover.
Finance

Monika Wahry
Monika Wahry has been working in accounting since 2019. Her main areas of activity are payment transactions, financial accounting, travel expense accounting and preparatory work in project accounting.
She has many years of experience in the banking and industrial sectors. As a banker she worked for the Hypo Vereinsbank and in the accounting departments of various industrial companies.