Michael Gold is a seasoned investment and commercial banker and management consultant with over 34 years of experience, the last 19 years of which have been resident in the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the former Soviet Union. His specializations include increasing access to finance, competitiveness, privatization, foreign direct investment, trade, SME development, and legal and regulatory reform. As Managing Director of Crimson Capital, Mr. Gold oversees all of Crimson’s international development work, including a portfolio of 18 current projects and 5 master contracts on four continents.

Mr. Gold has developed and implemented programs in numerous countries including Uganda, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Kosovo, Peru, El Salvador and Bolivia, and has pioneered the introduction and expansion of Purchase Order Finance (POF) in developing countries. His career highlights include managing the Macedonia Business Resource Center (MBRC) which helped hundreds of SMEs become more competitive and generated over $95 million in new trade and investment; establishing the Macedonia SME Commercial Finance Fund and the Crimson Finance Fund in Kosovo, both of which utilize POF to help SMEs dramatically increase sales, profits, employment and exports; advising the Czech government on privatization and enterprise restructuring, resulting in the successful privatization of over 200 major companies and over $6 billion in foreign direct investment; and helping the government of Macedonia secure a regional record price of 225 million EUR for the privatization of the national electricity distribution company, along with an investment commitment of 96 million EUR.

Mr. Gold has achieved over $7 billion USD in debt and equity financing, foreign direct investment, and export transactions in developing and emerging countries. He was worked closely with banks, central banks, investment funds and MFIs in the US and throughout the developing world. Mr. Gold holds an Executive Management degree from UCLA, and a B.A. in biochemistry and physiology from Kalamazoo College in Michigan.

Sahel Philip Annabi is the Financial Product Design & Development Team Leader on the USAID-funded Financial Access for Investing in the Development of Afghanistan (FAIDA) project and is responsible for building the capacity of FAIDA’s financial institution partners in MSME lending.

Mr. Annabi is a banking and finance expert with almost 20 years of experience in the Middle East Region. Prior to joining Crimson, he worked as a senior consultant, advising banks and financial institutions in Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Yemen. Through this consulting work, he contributed to a number of significant achievements, including introducing the Islamic-finance window concept which was implemented in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates; organizational restructuring of the biggest two banks in Iraq (Rafidain & Rasheed Banks); and designing and developing the first life planning web-tool to equip young people with financial and career skills. He also founded the first and only financial planning magazine in Jordan. Mr. Annabi has facilitated and participated in numerous conferences and training programs related to financial planning, access to finance, banking management and operations, financial planning, investments, real estate evaluation and credit, marketing and development of financial services. He has also worked for a number of International Financial Institutions including HSBC, Arab Bank, ABC Banking Corporation and the Egyptian Arab Land Bank. Mr. Annabi holds an MSc. in International Securities, Investment & Banking from ICMA Centre / The University of Reading – UK, as well as the Financial Advisor International Qualification from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) - UK. He speaks fluent Arabic and English.

Darko Arsov is a Project Manager at Crimson Capital. He has more than five years of experience managing large-scale, business and strategy development projects, for both the private sector and on international development projects. Prior to joining Crimson, Mr. Arsov was e-Commerce Manager, at ITpreneurs, in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where he was responsible for development of e-commerce activities, including client networking, business development and marketing. He has also freelanced as a Market Research Analyst in Macedonia for a global market intelligence company, where he conducted extensive analyses of the Macedonian business sector and numerous industries. Between 2003 and 2007, Mr. Arsov worked as Technology Integration Manager for e-Schools, a USAID/Macedonia funded activity. He was responsible for designing and implementing nationwide campaign to modernize education, and developing vast ICT infrastructure in all public schools in Macedonia.

Mr. Arsov holds a BBA in Management Information System from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, and an MBA in Strategy Management from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. He is fluent in Macedonian, English and Serbian.

Laura Bahtiri is the Regional Governance Advisor for Gjilan/Gnjilane on the USAID-funded Democratic Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI) project in Kosovo. Prior to joining Crimson, she worked at the International Civilian Office (ICO) as a Decentralization Officer, where she facilitated the transfer of competencies from parent municipalities to newly established municipalities. Ms. Bahtiri also worked in the Prime Minister’s Office, where she led the Return Support and Coordination Unit, promoting a smooth and transparent return process for displaced persons. Ms. Bahtiri was one of the senior staff members with CARE international Kosovo where she successfully implemented the Strengthening Democratic Efforts in Kosovo through Peace-building Initiatives project, which focused on building the capacities of local government and community service organizations.

Ms. Bahtiri has completed a number of advanced trainings on Peace Building, Conflict Resolution, Advocacy, Rights Based Approaches, etc. In addition to her native Albanian, she is fluent in English and Serbian.

Peers Brewer is a commercial banker with extensive experience in US and international markets. His career began with Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company and extended through the acquisition of Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank. Within that time frame, he held numerous assignments, beginning as a security analyst for the banking, financial and insurance industries; followed by managing the investor relations department, strategic planning for the bank, financial modeling, managing relationships with international insurance companies and risk management for the bank.

International consulting assignments have been held in Tblisi, Seoul, Skopje, and Ulaan Baatar.

Mr. Brewer was the first General Manager of the Crimson Finance Fund, based in Pristina. The Fund is a short term lender to small and medium sized companies and entrepreneurs in Kosovo. The Fund primarily addresses the needs of customers whose financing is not easily accommodated within traditional banking practices. Mr. Brewer holds academic degrees from Colgate University (AB – History), Harvard University (BD – Theology), and New York University (PhD – Economics). He speaks Russian and Macedonian.

Ms. Bucinca is the Office Manager for the Crimson Finance Fund in Kosovo. Prior to joining Crimson, she worked as the Head of Administration for the EU Customs and Fiscal Assistance Office to UNMIK, where she was responsible for implementing and applying administrative policies and procedures and for management of the office’s operational activities, including budget preparation, tracking and reporting and liaising with financial and project managers in the European Commission DG Enlargement Team in Brussels. She also worked as a Senior Human Resources Officer for the Privatization Agency of Kosovo.

Ms. Bucinca holds a bachelor's degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the ILIRIA University in Prishtina, and is also currently attended training and seminars in Business Management and Human Resources Management. In addition to her native Albanian, she is fluent in English and Serbian.

Blerim Çerkini is the Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator on the USAID-funded Democratic Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI) project in Kosovo. Mr. Çerkini has more than 10 years of experience working with international, governmental and non-governmental organizations. Prior to joining Crimson, Mr. Çerkini was the Coordinator for Design, Monitoring & Evaluation Support for Mercy Corps in Kosovo. He also worked as the Head of Data Analysis of the Department of Local-Self Governance within the Ministry of Local Self-Governance and as a Senior Analyst in the Microeconomic Unit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

He holds a degree in Economics from the University of Pristine, Kosovo. In addition to his native Albanian, he also speaks English and Serbian.

Richard Currie is Crimson Capital’s Senior Banking and Finance Director and a board member of the Crimson SME Finance Fund in Macedonia. He is a leading expert in Purchase Order Finance and other asset-based and trade finance products and has over 30 years of experience providing commercial banking and access to finance advisory services in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the U.S He has worked to successfully design and launch new SME debt products to the market, including POF, and has provided technical assistance and training in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Kosovo, Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan, China, Georgia, Bosnia, Sri Lanka, Macedonia and Uganda. To date, these initiatives have opened up over $60 million USD in direct financing to SMEs, resulting in more than $120 million in sales and exports and created several thousands of jobs.

Mr. Currie holds a Master’s degree in Asian Studies from Indiana University, and completed the Chase Manhattan Bank Credit Training Program. Mr. Currie is fluent in Chinese and Mongolian, and speaks Russian at an intermediate level. Prior to joining Crimson, Mr. Currie was Vice President of Middle Market Lending for Barclays Bank plc., Assistant Vice President for Credit Suisse, and Assistant Treasurer of US Trust Company, where he has managed loan and investment portfolios in total of around $500 million USD.

Ms. Damjanovska has managed Crimson Capital’s offices in Skopje since 1996, where she is responsible for all administration, accounting, and reporting. She is also in charge of communicating with Crimson’s Prague and US offices and developing business opportunities in the Balkans. Ms. Damjanovska joined Crimson’s team on the Macedonian Business Resource Center(MBRC) Project, where she coordinated administrative and office management tasks for this large scale, USAID-funded project for several years.

At present, Ms. Damjanovska manages the administrative aspects of Crimson Capital’s SME Commercial Finance Fund in Macedonia as well as other Macedonian activities. She has completed several intensive training programs for project management, financial reporting, budgeting and human resources and has extensive experience in all USAID and EU requirements and procedures. Ms. Damjanovska has a B.S. in Biochemistry and Physiology from Sts. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje and is fluent in Macedonian and English, as well as some Italian and German.

Ms. Dickmann has managed Crimson Capital’s Prague offices since 1998. She is responsible for all office operations, staff, accounting, and oversight. She coordinates Crimson’s activities across its disparate branches, including issues relating to registration, legal matters and contracts with partners as well as administration of financial transactions on a number of Crimson's donor-funded projects. Ms. Dickmann also supports Crimson's global recruiting efforts and the administration of Crimson's IT system.

Prior to joining Crimson, Ms. Dickmann worked as an Import and Sales Manager for Daewoo Corporation, facilitating imports of diverse products into the Czech market during the initial transition to a market economy. From 1998-2004, she supported the management of daily operations for the Herold Brewery, including coordinating export orders and developing new sales opportunities. In addition to her native Slovak, Ms. Dickmann is fluent in Czech and English and speaks some Russian and Dutch.

Mr. Fetahi is a senior finance and banking specialist with more than 17 years of experience. He began his career as a trade and international business representative and has since held a number of positions related to the development of the financial and private sectors in Kosovo. This includes working for FINCA-Kosovo as a Senior Loan Officer/Branch Manager focused on agricultural lending, and as a Credit Manager for BMF Kosovo. He has also held positions as a Risk and Collection Manager, focused on assessing market risk, operational risk, product development, and collection.

His most recent activity was for the European Agency for Reconstruction where he analyzed potential regional investments in Kosovo, completed surveys of SME development programs, to help develop industrial parks. Currently, Mr. Fetahi serves as the Deputy General Manager for the newly initiated Crimson Finance Fund in Kosovo where his responsibilities will include development of the Fund’s loan portfolio, marketing, and risk management. Mr. Fetahi has an M.B.A from IEM-TUV, Technical University Vienna, and speaks English and Serbian in addition to his native Albanian.

Petrit Gashi is the Trade Coordinator on the USAID-funded Business Enabling Environment Program (BEEP) project in Kosovo. Prior to joining Crimson, Mr. Gashi worked at Riinvest Institute as a Reseracher and Lecturer and has advised numerous international organizations (UNDP, World Bank, USAID) and government institutions on trade-related issues. He has also teaches International Trade and Transition Economics at the Faculty of Economics, University of Prishtina.

Petrit has a PhD and MA degree, both from Staffordshire University, UK. In addition to his native Albanian, he is fluent in English and Serbo-Croatian.

Ms. Edisa Gjevori has extensive experience in business lending and project management. Prior to joining Crimson Capital, she worked as a Business Loan Officer at ProCredit Bank in Kosovo, where she managed and monitored client loans and developed extensive working relationships with the Pristina business community. Prior to this, Ms. Gjevori worked in administration, finance, and languages. She holds a degree in Banking and Finance issued by the Royal University Iliria and certificates in Client Management, Strategic Planning, Sales, Finance Management and Project Management issued by the University of Business and Technology (UBT) in Kosovo. In addition to her native Albanian language, she speaks fluent Serbo-Croatian and English, and Italian at an intermediate level.

Mr. Erdon Gjinolli is a Legal Expert on the USAID-funded Business Enabling Environment Program (BEEP) project in Kosovo. Before joining Crimson, Mr. Gjinolli worked as the Office Manager of the USAID-SEAD Mediation Center in Gjilan/Gnjilane, and prior to that was a Lawyer and Compliance Officer for BKT Bank, Prishtina. From 2007-2010, Mr. Gjinolli worked as the Senior Legal Officer in the Kosovo Ministry of Justice within the Department of Legal Affairs.

Mr. Gjinolli has a law degree from the University of Prishtina. In addition to his native Albanian, he speaks English and Serbian.

Robin Howell is one of the founders of Crimson Capital and has overseen all financial and administrative matters for the company since 1991. She enjoys more than 28 years of professional expertise in financial analysis and management, human resource administration, and corporate governance. Ms. Howell has been instrumental in facilitating Crimson Capital’s global portfolio expansion.

Ms. Howell previously served as Director of Operations for Tigera Group (formerly Fortune Computer), a publicly traded company. Ms. Howell is also Chairman of the Board for a variety of civic and charitable organizations, including the March of Dimes, the American Center for Law and Justice, the Rainforest Foundation, and the Trust for Public Land. Ms. Howell holds a B.S. in Business and Accounting from the University of South Carolina.

Bujar Hoxha is a senior manager with over a decade of experience designing and managing multi-faceted socio-economic development programs in the Western Balkans and Kosovo. Mr. Hoxha has successfully implemented programs funded by Dutch Government, German BMZ, UNHCR, the European Commission, Austrian Development Agency, USAID and the Mellon Foundation. He has extensive experience liaising with international development institutions, local government structures and national government ministries to empower local civil society structures to reduce poverty and build sustainable peace among ethnic communities in Kosovo.

Prior to joining Crimson, Mr. Hoxha was the Country Director for CARE's country portfolio in Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania. Mr. Hoxha was also part of the Regional Leadership Team in CARE International responsible for the Eastern Europe and Middle East. He led a team of over 100 staff and subcontractors to implement initiatives to build local government and NGO capacity through diverse projects focused on advocacy, municipal capacity building, minority integration, democratic governance, education and economic development. Mr. Hoxha developed and implemented strategic plans for CARE International Kosovo, resulting in new contracts valued at $17 million in total. He has led and participated in dozens of studies conducted in Kosovo around civil society and ethnic problems persisting in the region.

Mr. Hoxha holds MA in International Relations from the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Pleurat Hundozi is an experienced economist with substantial practice in a wide range of areas including SME development, FDI, finance, trade, workforce development and business reform. Throughout his career, he has worked for a number of private companies and donors in various positions. Most recently, he held a post with the European Agency for Reconstruction in Kosovo, where he managed a portfolio of Economic Development projects in a total value of more than €45 million. Currently, Mr. Hundozi is the Director of Business Development of Crimson Capital, where his responsibilities include business development and project management. He has an academic background from Kosovo, Germany, the UK and Greece and holds a BA in Management and Informatics from Prishtina University and a MBA degree from Sheffield University. In addition to his native Albanian, Mr. Hundozi speaks English, German and a number of Slavic languages.

Armend Kabashi has 5 years of experience in the banking sector. Prior to joining CFF, Mr. Kabashi worked as an Account Officer in Raiffeisen Bank, Kosovo, maintaining loan and retail portfolios. He also has 4 years of experience in the microfinance sector. He worked as a Loan Officer of the Beslidhja Microfinance Program (BMF) and at the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), where he specialized in micro business lending. Mr. Kabashi has also worked for donor programs, including the Danish Refuge Council (DRC) and Mercy Corps International (MCI). In addition to his native Albanian, Mr. Kabashi speaks fluent English, Serbian and Croatian.

Halit Kadriu is the Senior Organizational Development Advisor on the USAID-funded Democratic Effective Municipalities Initiative in Kosovo. Mr. Kadriu has more than 15 years of experience in organizational development, local governance and decentralization in the private and public sectors in Kosovo, Albania and the Balkan Region. Before joining Crimson, he held the position of Deputy Team Leader on the European Commission-funded Local Governance project in Kosovo, which was implemented by VNG International.

Mr. Kadriu holds a Master degree in Economic Transition from the Pantheon - Sorbonne University, Paris, France. In addition to his native Albanian, he is fluent in English, French and Serbo-Croatian.

Visar is an economist with substantial experience in the private, governmental and non-governmental sectors. Prior to joining Crimson he worked for the OSCE Mission in Kosovo as National Program Officer within the Local Governance Section in the Democratization Department. He also has extensive experience in executive recruitment with Russell Reynolds Associates office in Milan, Italy. He is currently the Regional Advisor for the Peje/Pec Region on the USAID-funded Democratic Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI) project.

Mr. Kelmendi holds a BSc degree in Financial Management from Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. In addition to his native Albanian, he is fluent in English, Italian and Serbo-Croatian.

Mr. Gëzim Kolgeci is a Legal Expert on the USAID-funded Business Enabling Environment Program (BEEP) project in Kosovo. Before joining Crimson, Mr. Kolgeci worked as the Senior Legal Advisor to the President of the Supreme Court of Kosovo, and prior to that he served in the position of Senior Legal Advisor and Component Manager of the Legal Reform Project in Kosovo, which was implemented by German International Cooperation (GIZ). Mr. Kolgeci also supported the institutional setup of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo and served as an Interim Secretary General of the Court. Between 2002-2007, Mr. Kolgeci advised on a variety of rule of law reform and coordination issues between EULEX and Kosovo judicial institutions.

Mr. Kolgeci has a law degree in administrative and constitutional law and a Juris Doctorate in applied legal studies, both from the University of Prishtina. In addition to his native Albanian, he is fluent in English and Serbian.

Mr. Martinovski has extensive experience in banking and finance and has designed, delivered, and implemented SME Lending programs. He has also established policy guidelines in all phases of credit risk assessment, loan workouts, strategic planning, and marketing. He has served as an Undersecretary in the Ministry of Finance of Macedonia responsible for World Bank negotiations, the first government bonds issue, and reform of capital markets and banking. Prior to joining the SME Fund, Mr. Martinovski was the Director of the Macedonian Bank for Development Promotion, where he managed a 50 million euro SME loan portfolio.

Mr. Marinovoski has been involved in the design and development of the SME Fund since its earliest stages. His responsibilities as General Manager include credit policies and procedures, credit approval and disbursement procedures, credit risk management, lending portfolio, marketing and customer care. He has a degree in Economics from Sts. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, and is fluent in English in addition to his native Macedonian.

Mentor Mehmedi is the Government Policy and Management Support Expert on the USAID-funded Business Enabling Environment Program (BEEP) project in Kosovo. Prior to joining Crimson, he worked at the Ministry of Economy and Finance as a Policy Advisor to the Minister, where he supported economic agreements, including Kosovo's membership in the IMF and in the World Bank Group institutions, and fiscal policy reforms. Mr. Mehmedi also worked for the American Chamber of Commerce for three years, where he led numerous projects and conducted policy analysis on Kosovo’s business environment and private sector development.

Mr. Mehmedi holds an MA degree in economics from Bowling Green State University, where he was a Kosovo American Education Fund (KAEF) Fellow, and a Bachelor’s degree from the American University in Kosovo (AUK). In addition to his native Albanian, he speaks fluent English.

Ms. Mirlinda Mejzini is an Administrative Assistant at Crimson Finance Fund (CFF) in Kosovo. Prior to joining CFF, she worked as an administrative assistant for a number of organizations, including the OSCE, UNOPS and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A native speaker of Albanian, Ms. Mejzini also speaks English, Serbo-Croatian, and Turkish. She holds a degree in law from AAB - RIINVEST University Pristine, Kosovo.

Roger Nye is the Credit Advisor on the USAID-funded Business Enabling Environment Program (BEEP) in Kosovo, supporting the development of the Kosovo Credit Registry and the legal and regulatory framework to enhance improved credit information.

Mr. Nye has more than thirty years of experience advising on economic and financial factors that affect the growth, stability and creditworthiness of countries, banks and corporations around the world. He has advised the Governments of Canada, Cyprus, Latvia, New Zealand, Suriname, and Turkey on their credit ratings as well as several international banks, corporations and supranationals. He helped establish and develop local rating agencies in Hungary, Poland, Russia and Bahrain; wrote market feasibility studies and trained credit analysts. Mr. Nye helped create or upgrade credit bureaus in Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Iraq, Macedonia, Malta, Mongolia, and Pakistan. Earlier in his career, he worked at Moody’s Investors Service in New York as a Senior International Analyst assigning credit ratings and assessing the creditworthiness of government and bank borrowers in the capital markets.

Mr. Nye has published more than three dozen articles and books on investment-related topics encompassing Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and country risk. He has addressed numerous public and private forums on issues involving direct and fixed-income investment. Mr. Nye has a Ph.D. in international relations from Washington University and a B.A. in political science from Williams College. In addition to his native English, he speaks Turkish and French.

Mr. Ortega is a development finance specialist with more than 25 years of experience in management of commercial and development banking operations and programs, strengthening microfinance institutions and international rural finance. In addition to conducting extensive research on trade and development, he has designed legislation and regulation for capital and financial market development. Mr. Ortega previously worked as General Manager for Tironi & Associates in Bolivia, led efforts to expand rural finance in Honduras, and served as Secretary of National Planning, Capitalization, and Investment for the Government of Bolivia. He has completed consulting assignments in Armenia, Kenya, Macedonia, Mexico, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Guatemala. He is the recipient of USAID’s 2009 Award for Innovations in Value Chain Finance.

Mr. Ortega Landa designed and implemented Crimson’s highly successful activities on the ARCo project in Bolivia, through which Capital worked with the financial institution FIE to introduce Purchase Order Finance for agricultural producers in the rural, coca-growing regions of Yungas and Chapare. In less than three years, FIE issued over $18.5 million in total loans (using its own loan capital) and opened five branches in rural Yungas and Chapare. These loans created an estimated 3,500 plus full time job equivalents. In addition, rural clients opened more than 9,000 savings accounts with deposits totaling over $4.5 million and FIE moved upscale from being exclusively a micro lender to become a successful SME lender, and ultimately to transform from a regulated financial institution into a full-fledged bank.

Mr. Ortega holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the Kennedy School at Harvard, as well as a Master’s degree in International Administration (MIA) from the School for International Training in Vermont. He speaks fluent English and French in addition to his native Spanish.

Mr. Safet Rama is the Incubator Manager at the Innovation Centre Kosovo (ICK). He is sales and marketing specialist with over 10 years of experience working in the private and public sectors. Prior to joining Crimson, he worked for the Privatization Agency of Kosovo as a Marketing and Investor Relations Officer. He also previously worked in Austria as the Head of the Sales Department for Hofbauer.

Mr. Rama has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is currently enrolled in the executive MBA program at Sheffield University in Thessaloniki, Greece. In addition to his native Albanian, he speaks English, German, Spanish and number of Slavic languages.

Mr. Ristevski has over 7 years of experience in banking and the financial sector. Prior to joining Crimson Capital, Mr. Ristevski has worked as a Loan Officer and Branch Manager for ProCredit Bank, Macedonia, where he was responsible for establishing bank branches, developing a range of banking products, maintaining loan and retail portfolios and overseeing 33 employees. He is currently the Agricultural Finance and Value Chains Manager on the USAID funded AgBiz Program in Macedonia, where he is focused on assisting Macedonian agribusinesses expand and improve production as well as to increase sales. Mr. Ristevski's work on Agbiz has already resulted in helping agribusinesses access over $7 million in debt financing and over $9 million in equity to expand their operations and complete trade deals, and has increased client sales by more than $12 million. He also works with fresh fruit and vegetable producers and marketers to upgrade storage facilities and enhance their export marketing capabilities and has assisted a number of major agricultural producers and processors implement HACCP and GlobalGap, making producers more competitive in European markets.

He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Saint Kliment Ohridski, University in Bitola and is currently working on a MBA degree at Goce Delcev University. In addition to his native Macedonian, he is fluent in English.

Artina Sadiku began her career in the SME sector as a Sales and Product Promotion Officer at Bonus Bonita and was subsequently promoted to a Sales Manager. Following this, she was in charge of the Accounting and Finance department of the Education Institute at the Academy of Art.

Ms. Artina graduated from Pristina University in 2006 with a BS degree in Economics. She has completed training programs in accounting, finance and project management. A native Albanian speaker, Ms. Sadiku is also fluent in English and Serbo-Croatian.

Arjan Shabani is an economic and business development specialist with over seven years of experience working in the private and public sectors as well as on international development projects. Prior to joining Crimson, he worked for Kosovo Energy Corporation as a Strategic and Financial Planning Manager. He is currently the Local Economic Development Unit Head on the USAID-funded Democratic Effective Municipalities Initiative (DEMI) project.

Mr. Shabani holds a BA degree from Eastern the Mediterranean University in Cyprus and a MSc. in International Business and Management from the University of Manchester. He is fluent in English, Albanian, Turkish and a number of Slavic languages.

Mr. Liridon Shurdhani is the Business Environment Reform Coordinator on the USAID-funded Business Enabling Environment Program (BEEP) in Kosovo. Before joining Crimson, Liridon’s main professional activities encompassed provision of legal consulting services for a large number of national and international organizations, focused mainly on rule of law and commercial law. Mr. Shurdhani worked for IPKO Telecommunications as the senior legal adviser and as a lecturer at the Law Faculty of the University of Business and Technology (UBT) in Pristina, Kosovo.

Mr. Shurdhani has a law degree from the University of Prishtina and an LL.M degree from Ohio Northern University. In addition to his native Albanian, he speaks fluent English and Serbo-Croatian.

Simona Sosolceva has worked for Crimson Capital since beginning her career in 1998. She started as an Investment Specialist on the MBRC program, where she helped catalyze several million dollars in new trade and investment for Macedonia. She also has played a central role in the organization and implementation of four Business and Investment Roundtables with the Government of Macedonia from 2001 – 2005.

Ms. Sosolceva has worked at the SME Fund since 2002, operating a broad loan portfolio for all sectors and regions of the Macedonian economy. She also implements the Fund’s marketing and public relations program. Ms. Sosolceva has a B.A. in Economics from 1994 and is completing post-graduate studies on the European Union at the University of Economics in Skopje. She speaks Macedonian, English, Serbian and Bulgarian.

Mr. Nysret Spahija has 6 years of experience in the microfinance sector. He began his professional work with microfinance institutions as an employee of the Beslidhja Microfinance Program, where he specialized in agriculture lending. While at Beslidhja Microfinance, he worked as a Risk & Marketing Assistant, as a Loan Officer, and finally as a Senior Loan Officer. Prior to his work on the Beslidhja Microfinance Program, he worked as a Logistics Officer for Norwegian People Aid (NPA).

Ms. Syrovatkova is a member of Crimson's administrative support team. Her main duties are recruitment, project and partner identification. Ms. Syrovatkova has an extensive experience in the finance sector and in sales. Prior to joining Crimson, she worked as Personal Assistant to the Financial Adviser of the British life insurance company, Aviva. She has also served as an Assistant of Sales and Management at General Bottlers, s. r. o. and has worked as a translator and a technical writer.

Ms. Syrovatkova is a graduate of the University ESERP at Barcelona and holds a degree in business management and marketing. In addition to her native Czech, Ms. Syrovatkova speaks Slovak, English and Spanish fluently and German at an intermediate level.

Mrs. Tasevska has 14 years of experience in the SME sector. Her career began as an employee of the Foundation for SME development, where she subsequently became a business advisor. As business advisor, she was responsible for promotion, training, and consulting of SMEs.

Mrs. Tasevska has worked at the SME Fund as Senior Loan Officer since 2003. She is responsible for promotion of Fund products, analyzing credit applications, preparing proposals, and monitoring and evaluating of delivered loans for SMEs.

Mrs. Tasevska graduated from Sts. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje in 1992 with a BS degree in Economics with a major specialization in Banking. Between 2000 and 2002, she participated in the South Eastern Europe Program and became a Master of Training and Consulting. She is fluent in English and in a few other regional languages.