10th HAEE Energy Transition Symposium

He was born in Athens, 1953. He studied Chemical Engineering at National Technical University of Athens. His family has its origins in Ikaria, an island of the Eastern Aegean Sea with which he has cultivated strong bonds.

He has worked initially as an agent and distributor of raw materials to the tanning and shoe making industry during the period 1977-1996.

Since 1986 he has established, with other partners, a distribution company for chemicals to the coatings, plastics, polymers industries among many industrial sectors. The company under the name of Delta Chemicals covered gradually almost every industrial application as a supplier of raw materials and specialty chemicals, providing also technical assistance and expertise. The company was also active in the Balkans and surrounding areas through subsidiary companies in Romania and Turkey. In 2016 the company has been sold and merged in the RAVAGO group (Luxemburg) a big multinational distribution entity. Mr. Aivaliotis left the management of the company in 2019.

At the same time there were parallel business activities in the investment field (through funds such as AIOLIKI, listed in Athens’ stock exchange), in the distribution of electrical appliances/air conditioning, in construction of buildings.

As a political person, he was a founding member of the “Fileleftheri” (1999) and “Drassi” (2009) political parties, two attempts to establish a Liberal party in Greece. He was Vice President of “Drassi” until its merging with New Democracy Party in 2019. He was candidate for the Parliament in 2012 (Drassi), 2015 (Drassi/Potami) and 2019 (New Democracy).

He was also a Vice President of the Entrepreneurship Club from 2009 to 2019 (the association which gives yearly the Kouros rewards to the most dynamic and successful business endeavors).

He was involved, on a project basis, as a counselor of the Deputy Minister of Finance with the task force to provide a State Guarantee on a loan to revive the investment activities of Energean to the Prinos oil fields (Kavala), which are destined to become the first Carbon Dioxide Storage facility in Greece (CCS), as well as with the architecture and procedures of the loans project of the European Recovery and Resilience Fund, from 2020 to 2023.

He is currently General Secretary for Energy and Mineral Resources at the Ministry of Environment and Energy from July 2023.

He is married to Anna Aivaliotou, having a happy family with two children and three grandchildren.

Political science, English language and literature, and Arabic language and literature graduate

Previously held positions

2020-2023    Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France in Bucharest 

2017-2020    Director of culture, education, research and networks at the Ministry of                       

                           Europe and foreign affairs

2016-2017  Deputy director of the European Union

2013-2016  Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France in Skopje

2010-2013  Secretary general at the French Institute in Paris

2006-2010  Director of the French Institute in the United Kingdom

2003-2006  Deputy spokesperson in the Office of the President of the Republic

2002-2003  Adviser in the office of the Minister 

2000-2002  Deputy spokesperson of the Ministry of foreign affairs 

1999-2000  Spokesperson at the European Commission 

1995-1999  Administrator for the Euro-Mediterranean partnership, DG Relex 

1991-1995  Adviser at the Permanent Representation of France in Brussels

1988-1991  Adviser at the Permanent Representation of France in Brussels

1985-1988  Environmental adviser (Ministry of foreign affairs)

Honors

Knight of the French Legion of Honor

Officer of the National Order of Merit

Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters

Jorgo Chatzimarkakis has been working at Hydrogen Europe since 2016. He currently holds the
position of CEO of the association. He previously covered roles in the planning department of the
Foreign Office of Germany, at Infineon Technologies and was Member of the European Parliament
(2004-2014) inter alia in the ITRE Committee (Industry, Technology, Research and Energy) where he
could contribute to lay the cornerstone for the first and the second Joint Undertaking on hydrogen
and fuel cells. He was awarded Hydrogen Person of the Year at the World Hydrogen Awards 2022, “as
a major player promoting hydrogen in Europe and world-wide, accelerating collaboration and industry
development”.
Jorgo was born in Duisburg, Germany. He holds German and Greek nationality, and a degree in political
science from the University of Bonn.

Gianni Chianetta is the Founder & Chair at Greening the Islands Foundation, Board member and secretary of the Global Solar Council and Head of the Global Alliance for Sustainable Energy Secretariat. 
He has been working in the area of energy since 2003. He has been Head of Comms & External Affairs at BP Italy, Managing Director at BP Solar Italy, Founder and Chairman of the first Italian Solar PV Industry Association for three consecutive terms when he negotiated the five Photovoltaic Energy Incentive Decrees (feed-in-tariff) with the Italian Government, that has brought the installed capacity from about 35 MWp to more than 20 GWp.

He founded the Global Network of National PV Associations in 2007, which has been the basis for the establishment in 2015 of Global Solar Council. He was elected Co-Chairman since its foundation and then Chairman before taking on the CEO role until October 2023. 
He has also been a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Renewables Alliance, the IRENA Coalition for Action and the Global Alliance for Sustainable Energy, the Chairman of Worldwide Carbon Price and a member of the Advisory Board at REN21.

Gianni Chianetta has a degree in Mechanical & Management Engineering and masters/seminars at Middlesex University (London), Kellogg School of Management (Chicago), SDA Bocconi Milano (Milan), Istituto de Empresa (Madrid)

Dr. Athanasios Dagoumas is an Assistant Professor in Energy and Resource Economics and Director of the Energy and Environmental Policy laboratory at the University of Piraeus. He holds a Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki, where he elaborated his PhD in Energy Economics. He is Member of the Board of the Cambridge Trust for New Thinking in Economics. He has more than 15 years of work and research experience in energy related issues, including working as a Senior Researcher at the University of Cambridge and as a Senior Energy Analyst at the Transmission System Operator and at the Electricity Market Operator in Greece. Moreover he was enrolled as a Special Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change in Greece. His extensive experience builds his capacity for an in-depth understanding of multidisciplinary aspects of the energy sector: economic, engineering, environmental and policy. He is keen on developing models for the energy system, the economic-energy-environment (E3) systems and the real energy markets. He has been President to the Regulatory Authority for Energy since July 2020.

Dr. Panagiotis Grammelis is Director of Research at the Chemical Process and Energy Resources Institute of CERTH (CERTH/CPERI). The scope of his research is the exploitation of solid fuels, i.e. biomass/waste and coal, with emphasis on the thermochemical conversion technologies. He is experienced in numerous EU and national funded and industry oriented projects, with an extensive knowledge of the South-East European market. Since May 2011, Dr Grammelis is Head of the Laboratory of Alternative Fuels & Technologies and guides a team of highly-skilled researchers. He has been Steering Committee member of the Biomass Panel in the RHC-ETP (responsible for industrial boilers and district heating), national expert for the standardisation of solid biofuels and member of DHC+ (District Heating & Cooling) Platform. Member of the Editorial Board in IJER and IJGW and the Scientific Committees of international conferences (EUBCE, GCGW, WSED). He is co-author in 380 papers in scientific journals, international conferences, workshops and books, with 2777 citations and h-Index 30 according to Scopus.

George Kremlis is the Chairman of the Greek Initiative at UN level on protecting cultural and natural heritage from climate change impacts. He is a member of the Board of the European Public Law Organisation and the Director of its climate and circular economy Institute. He is as well the Ambassador of the EPLO to Bulgaria. He was until 2023 a member of the environmental and social advisory council of the EBRD and is also currently the Chair of the Bureau of the Espoo Convention and of the SEA Protocol, Chair of the MoPs in 2019,  elected Chair for the MoPs in December 2020 and re-elected Chair for the period 2021-2023 and the period up to 2027. He is the Chairman of the AmCham circular economy committee. George Kremlis is Honorary Director of the European Commission, where he has spent the major part of his career as Advisor in the Legal Service and Head of various legal and policy Units in DGENV. 

He was until 2023 special Advisor to the Greek Prime Minister on energy, climate, environment and circular economy issues. He is doctor honoris causa of the Varna Free University, member of the Advisory Board of the Balkan Economic Forum, and the founder and president of the Circular Gaia Symposium. 

Papastamatiou Panagiotis holds a Diploma in Electrical Engineering from NTU of Athens with PhD in Operational Research and Energy Policy & Planning and postgraduate lessons in Economics and Management in Athens University of Economics and Business. Since 1995 he has been active in the wind energy sector and the rest Renewable energy Sources in Greece and abroad.

He is Chief Executive Officer of the Hellenic Wind Energy Association, ELETAEN, an elected member of the Board of Directors of the Greek Association of RES Electricity Producers, GAREP, and elected member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Electricity Association, H.EL.AS.

Papastamatiou is also Director of ENTEKA Group. He directs the development and financial sectors of the Group, which since 1984 deals almost exclusively with wind energy projects, development, ownership and operation of wind farms.

 Mr. Pugliaresi is President of the Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRINC), a public policy energy think tank founded in 1944. He has led the organization’s research effort on the scope and benefits of the North American petroleum renaissance. EPRINC’s programs are focused on the intersection of petroleum economics and public policy. EPRINC publications on developments in U.S. and international petroleum markets are made available at the foundation’s website, www.eprinc.org.

Mr.Pugliaresi has served in a wide range of government posts, including the National Security Council at the White House (Reagan Administration), Departments of State, Energy, and Interior, as well as the EPA. He has written extensively on energy and frequently testifies before various committees of the U.S. Congress. His career in the federal government included central policy roles in the development of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, decontrol of domestic crude oil and gasoline prices, nuclear nonproliferation, offshore oil and gas leasing on federal lands, U.S. trade policy, environmental regulations, energy security, and U.S./Soviet relations.

Mr. Pugliaresi has published extensively on petroleum topics and is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal. Among some of his recent publications are "Future Oil Supplies Can Lower Prices Today,”  Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2011; "Lessons of the Shale Gas Revolution,” Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2011; "The Keystone Debacle,”  Wall Street Journal, November 16, 2011; "North America’s Strategic Loss: Keystone XL Pipeline and the High Cost of the American Regulatory Regime,"  Geopolitics of Energy, Canadian Energy Research Institute, Dec – Nov 2011. “Keystone Can Help the Gulf—and the Northeast,” Wall Street Journal,  January 31, 2012. “Ethanol’s hidden gasoline tax,” Washington Times, May 7, 2012. “Time to Rethink Renewable Fuel Rules,” CNBC online, April 18, 2013. “Repeal or reform the RFS,” The Hill, August 2, 2013. “ Obama’s Keystone pipe blockage, U.S. energy dependency is counter-progressive,” The Washington Times, August 13, 2013. “Don’t let protectionism strangle America’s energy renaissance,” The Hill, December 23, 2013. “American Perspective, Oil and Gas Development, Arctic in World Affairs, A North Pacific Dialogue, Korean Maritime Institute, 2013.  “Will Latin America join petroleum’s new world order?” Forum, Oxford Energy Institute, November 2014, Issue 98. “Congress’ Bizarre idea to pay for health care (with L. Goldstein). Politico, July 2015.  “The SPR Can Limit the Economic Harm from a Supply Disruption,” Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2015.  “Pruitt will reform EPA's heavy-handed regulations,” The Hill, January 10, 2017. “US consumers benefit from energy integration with Mexico, Canada,” The Hill, February 17, 2017.  “Time to take fuel-efficiency mandates in for a checkup,” The Hill, March 11, 2017.  “Growing importance of US–Mexican energy trade,” Forum, Oxford Energy Institute, June 2017.  “Future of Asian LNG”, Joint Project of EPRINC and Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ), published annually  2017, 2018, and 2019.

Gianfranco is Italian, graduated in Mechanical Engineering with a PhD in Thermo-Mechanic Engineering Systems.
Soon after his graduation Gianfranco became affiliate professor of Technical Physic and developed many entrepreneurial initiatives.

In 2000 Gianfranco joint McKinsey & Co. where he held the position of Associate Partner in the industrial sectors, mainly in Power&gas, Oil and Basic Material.
In 2010 Gianfranco joint Azimut|Benetti Group, world leader in luxury yachts production, as Central Director.
After one and half year, Gianfranco decided to come back in the consulting, as Owner & Managing Partner at 3HPartners. In parallel, Gianfranco came back to the accademia as Affiliate professor of Professor of Operations Management, Energy Markets, Digital Management and Entrepreneurship in London, Milan and Rome.
At the beginning of 2016, Gianfranco was designed by the Health Ministry President of Istituto Nazionale Genetica Molecolare, until 2021.
Between 2017 and today Gianfranco was designated member of many boards (ClubDealonLine, ReiWa Engine, Envision, iStarter ltd, Hydraink).

Gianfranco's interests are also in management transformation. He is the author of numerous articles (as “Management Matters” on Corriere della Sera, “I campioni della crescita” on Global Competition) and case studies (as “reducing uncertainty through disciplined experimentation).

In October 2021 Forbes refers to him as “Il consulente del Cambiamento”.

Gianfranco is also author of many scientific publications in Energy sector.

Gianfranco speaks fluently English and Italian.

Mr. Menelaos (Mel) Ydreos is the Secretary General of the International Gas Union (IGU), whose mission is to advocate for Gas as an integral part of a sustainable global energy system and promote the political, technical, and economic progress of the gas industry.

Mr. Ydreos has most recently served as the Executive Director of LNG2023, the global LNG conference staged in Vancouver, Canada, in July 2023. He also served as the Executive Director of Public Affairs and Chairman of the International Gas Union’s Coordination Committee for its 2015-2018 US Presidency triennium, and supported the staging of the 2018 World Gas Conference in Washington, DC. Also, during the IGU's Malaysian Presidency, Mr Ydreos chaired the special geopolitics and natural gas task force.

Mr. Ydreos also serves as the Executive Director of Energy Vantage Inc. in Toronto, Canada. He launched Energy Vantage Inc. after a long career at Union Gas Ltd, now a subsidiary of Enbridge, where he held several executive positions.

He served as interim president and CEO of the Ontario Energy Association from 2013 to 2014 and, in 2009, Mr Ydreos was the Interim President and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association.

Mr Ydreos has been and continues to be involved in an advisory and board capacity with a variety of energy-related organisations such as the Waterloo Institute of Sustainable Energy, Pollution Probe and the Canadian Standards Association.

Mr. Ydreos holds a B.Sc. in civil engineering from the University of Waterloo.