On Tuesday, June 2, 2020, USUBC hosted a webinar with Mikheil Saakashvili, Executive Secretary, Ukraine’s National Reform Council. 

Mr. Saakashvili's presentation was followed with remarks by Irina Paliashvili, President & Senior Counsel, RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group; Chair, USUBC Legal Committee; Kurt Eberly, Vice President/Program Manager, Antares Launch Vehicle Program, Northrop Grumman’s Innovation Systems Sector, Peter Teluk, Partner, Sayenko Kharenko, Former Advisor to Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine and by Morgan Williams, President, U.S.-Ukraine Business Council.  

You can watch recorded webinar by following the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW6A-LTJ71g

The National Reform Council was established in August 2014 as a special advisory body to the President of Ukraine on strategic planning, coordination of positions on the introduction of a unified state policy of reforms in Ukraine and their implementation. The members of the National Reform Council are approved by the President of Ukraine. 

USUBC NOTE: Northrop Grumman is the prime developer and integrator of the Antares Launch Vehicle. The Antares LV stage one core structure was developed by Yuzhnoye SDO and manufactured by Yuzhmash in cooperation with several Ukrainian companies.  The American/Ukrainian medium-class Antares launch vehicle has been launched successfully several times from NASA's Wallop Flight Facility in Virginia to the International Space Station.  

This is one of the best examples of a successful business partnership between a U.S. private business and companies owned by the government of Ukraine. Northrop Grumman is a member of the  U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC). 

BIOs:

1) Mikheil Saakashvili,
Executive Secretary, Ukraine’s National Reform Council, President of Georgia (2004-2013), Kyiv
Mikheil Saakashvili was born on December 21, 1967 in Georgia, Tbilisi. He was elected as a Member of Parliament of Georgia in 1995. On 12 October, 2000, was appointed Ministry of Justice of Georgia. His name is associated with reforms in this area. In October 2001, Saakashvili founded United National Movement (UNM). 

Mikheil Saakashvili was elected as a President of Georgia with 96% of electoral votes on January 4, 2004, and was reelected as a President of Georgia with 53% of votes in January, 2008. In winter, 2014, Saakashvili was actively involved in the events of Ukraine’s Euromaidan. In February 2015. He was appointed as the Head of the International Reforms Advisory Board. In May 2015 Mr. Saakashvili was appointed as the Governor of Odessa Oblast region. 

On May 7, 2020 Saakashvili was appointed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Executive Secretary, Ukraine’s National Reform Council.  ​
2) Irina Paliashvili,
President & Senior Counsel, RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group; Chair, USUBC Legal Committee, Washington and Kyiv

Dr. Irina Paliashvili began her private practice by co-founding one of the first private law firms in Ukraine and expanded by founding the Washington-based RULG-Ukrainian Legal Group, P.A., where she serves as the President and Senior Counsel. She also serves as the Managing Partner of the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Legal Group LLC.

Before going into private practice, she served as General Counsel (International) to two major companies in Ukraine. During that time, Irina completed a six-month assignment with a prominent Chicago law firm as a part of the ABA Internship Program followed by a four-month assignment working with a leading German law firm in Frankfurt. She has also served as a Professor of Law at the Kyiv State University Law School.

Irina graduated with highest honors from the Kyiv State University School of International Law and earned a Ph.D. in Private International Law from the same school. She also holds an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law from George Washington University. She is licensed to practice Ukrainian law as a Special Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia and is a member of the Kyiv Bar.

Irina frequently speaks at international conferences and publishes on the legal and business climates in Ukraine and other countries of the ECA (Europe-Caucuses-Asia) economic region. She serves as the Chair of the Legal Committee of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council, for which she leads the on-going pro-bono project on the White Paper on Legal and Governance Reform in Ukraine. Irina is a Member of the of the International Bar Association's (IBA) Senior Lawyers Committee Advisory Board and a member of the Advisory Board of Best Lawyers®. 

She is the founder of the ECA (Europe-Caucuses-Asia) Legal Forum, which in 10 years has become the main platform in the ECA region for the wide-scale gathering of leading business lawyers, and at present is held under the auspices of IBA. She is regularly included in the Hundred Best Lawyers of Ukraine (Clients' Choice) and in the list of most successful and well-known women lawyers in Ukraine based on the surveys conducted by Yurydychna Gazeta, a leading legal publication in Ukraine. She is also regularly included in the top 10 best lawyers in Ukraine, as well as named "Lawyer of the Year" in several practice areas (Antitrust, Arbitration and Mediation, Corporate, Energy and Natural Resources Law and Mergers and Acquisitions) by Best Lawyers®, which is regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence in the U.S. and around the world.

In addition to general corporate and transactional expertise, Irina has special experience in the areas of energy, oil and gas, intellectual property protection and antimonopoly law, as well as commercial dispute resolution and mediation. Irina is a mediator trained and certified by the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution in New York and a member of its International Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, as well as a member of the Energy Community Dispute and Negotiation Centre Panel of Mediators in Vienna. 

She has extensive experience in providing independent expert witness reports and testimony on the matters of Ukrainian law in international arbitrations and in the US, UK and Swedish courts proceedings, including all formats of oral testimony: direct examination, cross-examination, expert conferences, court depositions and court testimonies. Irina is included in the arbitrators panels of the Riga International Commercial Arbitration Court (RICAC) in Riga, the International Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (VIAC) in Vienna, Georgian International Arbitration Centre (GIAC) in Tbilisi, Lewiatan Court of Arbitration in Warsaw, Caspian Arbitration Society in Geneva and Kazakhstani International Arbitrage (KIA) in Almaty. She divides her working time between Washington, D.C. and Kyiv. 

Irina is a long-time member of the Executive Committee of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC). 

3) Kurt Eberly,
Vice President/Program Manager, Antares Launch Vehicle Program, Northrop Grumman’s Innovation Systems Sector

Mr. Kurt Eberly has held the position of Vice President/Program Manager for the Antares Launch Vehicle Program within Northrop Grumman’s Innovation Systems Sector since March 2017.

Prior to his current position, he served as Deputy Program Manager since program inception in 2007. Mr. Eberly has helped lead the Antares team to conduct ten launches to date for NASA carrying cargo to the International Space Station. In 2017, NASA awarded him the Exceptional Public Service Medal in recognition of proven leadership.

From 2004 – 2007, Mr. Eberly held the position of Director of Systems Engineering for the Launch Systems Group where he managed Systems Engineering teams assigned to all launch vehicle programs. From 2001 – 2004, Mr. Eberly led the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Boost Vehicle Integration and Test effort located at Vandenberg AFB, CA, where he oversaw integration of the first six Orbital Boost Vehicles and several booster flight tests.

Prior assignments spanning 1991 – 2001 include Engineering Manager for Launch Vehicle Integration and Test at Vandenberg AFB, and Mission Engineer for Pegasus launches of small satellites into Low Earth Orbit.

Mr. Eberly’s educational background features a BS and MS in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT in 1989 and 1991.

4) Peter Teluk, 

Former Advisor to Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine, Kyiv

Peter Teluk served as Senior Advisor on Investment, Privatization and Governance at Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine in 2019-2020. 

Mr. Teluk is a recognized professional in finance and law. He has more than 25 years of professional experience in attracting investment, private capital and in corporate and finance relations, arbitrage and government relations. He worked with such world-know firms and companies as Baker & McKenzie, Covington & Burling, Squire Patton Boggs, Philip Morris International.  He also was a managing partner at Salkom law firm’s Kyiv office, representing investors in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance matters and real estate transactions. Peter is a Founding Member of Trident Eagle Group LLC​.

He has served as the Ukrainian general counsel and member of the management team of a multibillion-dollar fast moving consumer goods company with manufacturing facilities in Ukraine and has served as the general counsel of a publicly listed company. Peter handles FCPA, corporate, competition, shareholder agreement, real estate, labor, finance, compliance and marketing matters. Peter Teluk is a member of the USUBC Executive Committee and Board of Directors.