Mr. Merko worked as Managing Director of the Moscow based grain milling company Moscow Grain Combine between 1995 and 2005. Before that he made a career in the Soviet and Russian grain milling industry. Mr. Merko holds a degree in Engineering (1976), specializing in food industry issues, from the Technical University of the city of Odessa.

Mr. Sizov is the managing director at SovEcon, one of Russia’s oldest independent analytical consultancies and one of the leading within agriculture and commodities. He has more than ten years of experience as an independent advisor or consultant to organizations such as Cargill, Syngenta, USDA, US Grains Council and the World Bank. Mr. Sizov holds a degree in Finance and Credit from the Financial Academy of the Government of the Russian Federation in Moscow.