Gligor Tashkovich:  

Minister Tashkovich recently completed a two year mandate as the Minister for Foreign Investment in the Republic of Macedonia (which is the country where his father and grandfather were born). The Government of which he was a part was elected on a strong anti-corruption and pro-business background in July 2006. Minister Tashkovich traveled to forty countries around the world convincing international firms to consider basing their European manufacturing, assembly, and back office operations in the Republic of Macedonia. He succeeded in attracting nearly one billion Euros of new foreign direct investment as a result of his efforts. He serves as both a Trustee of the American Research Center in Sofia, Bulgaria, a member of the University Council of the American University in Bulgaria and an associate of The Sunshine Lady Foundation run by the older sister of Warren Buffett. Previously, Mr. Tashkovich was the Executive Vice President for Government & Media Relations for AMBO LLC (the Albanian-Macedonian-Bulgarian Oil Corporation) on the $1.5 billion Trans-Balkan Oil Pipeline project, which will connect the Black Sea with the Adriatic Sea and cross the Republics of Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania. In this capacity, he met regularly with Presidents, Prime Ministers, and their Ministers, Ambassadors, and Advisers, has negotiated agreements between and among the three countries, marketed the project concept to oil companies, financiers, governments, international financial institutions, and the media; and maintained an oil & gas-related time-sensitive news distribution service covering ten countries in the former Soviet Union, Turkey, and the Balkans. He began working for AMBO LLC in mid-1994. Additionally, at different times during the past decade, Mr. Tashkovich served as a research consultant to First Data Corporation in the area of money laundering and terrorism finance; to the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences in the area of improving Ph.D. admissions recruitment plans for underepresented minority and international students; to Coyle Hospitality Group as a quality assurance inspector of hotels, bars, and restaurants; and to Z-Card North America and ED.SEILER Pianofortefabrik GmbH & Co., KG of Kitzingen, Germany on business development activities. In 2002, he was selected as a semi-finalist in the first annual Reinhard Mohn Fellowship competition for social entrepreneurs sponsored by Bertelsmann AG. In 2003, he was named to the official OSCE delegation of the U.S. Department of State that monitored both rounds of the presidential elections in the Republic of Armenia; and in 2004, he joined the State Department delegation to the Republic of Kazakhstan for their Parliamentary elections. Also in 2004, Mr. Tashkovich was also named a delegate to the U.S.-Japan Foundation¿s Leadership Program. Beginning in March 1992, following upon the leadership first provided by his grandfather and namesake (who was both a Senator and the leader of the Democratic Agrarian party in the Republic of Macedonia between 1937 and 1946), Mr. Tashkovich assisted the administration of President Kiro Gligorov (and from late 1999, the subsequent administration of President Boris Trajkovski) in the area of economic development by forging relationships with other countries, multinational institutions, and corporations. In this role, he has served as either a member or a guest of the delegations from Macedonia to the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia (London, August 1992); to the Annual Meeting of the World Bank/IMF (Washington, D.C., September 1992); to the Annual Meetings of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (London, April 1993; St. Petersburg, April 1994; and London, April 1995); and to the White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Central and Eastern Europe (Cleveland, January 1995). He served as Chief of the Advance Team for President Trajkovski¿s 23-member delegation to the United Nations¿ Financing for Development Conference (Monterrey, Mexico, March 2002). As part of Macedonia¿s drive to gain acceptance in the international community, Mr. Tashkovich successfully forged diplomatic relations in the Summer of 1993 between Macedonia and Malta; in November of 1993, between Macedonia and Angola; in April of 1994 between Macedonia and Uzbekistan; and again in 2001 between Macedonia and Georgia. Mr. Tashkovich has periodically worked with nine of the largest companies in Macedonia (from the aerospace, confectionary, construction, metal, hotel, pharmaceutical, retail, insurance, and telecommunications sectors) to assist their transition to a market economy by attracting potential investors and business partners. In July 1992, he introduced AT&T to the country and, after a year of negotiations, a contract was signed with the state-owned PTT (Post Office, Telephone, and Telegraph). In September 1993, he opened the Macedonian market for Plexus Medical, Inc. of San Francisco and sold reconditioned medical equipment and supplies from American hospitals and clinics which had been forced to rationalize their new role in the American health care system. In 1994, he achieved six figure sales and was named the company¿s most successful salesman. From December 1993 through May 1995, Mr. Tashkovich served as the exclusive importer of the international edition of Time magazine to Macedonia which was the first English-language publication in the country. His negotiations with the publisher permitted him to set the cover price far below the European sales price in the interests of promoting democracy and encouraging English language literacy. Mr. Tashkovich also supplied over 140 different magazines requested by the United States...Expand for more