CEE Automotive Supply Chain 2026

Alexander Matušek

President, Automotive Industry Association of the Slovak republic

Speaker

BIO:
He heads the External Relations / Environment / Social Services department at Volkswagen Slovakia, a.s. In the past, he was responsible for the management of the entire logistics at Volkswagen Slovakia and also held several management positions within the Volkswagen Group in Portugal and the USA. Since 2018, he is the President of the Automotive Industry Association of the Slovak Republic. In 2018, he was elected Vice President of the Federation of Slovak Industrial and Transport Associations.

Robert Kiml

President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic & Vice President, Automotive Industry Association of the Czech republic

Speaker

BIO:
Dr. Robert Kiml has been working at Kolín Toyota since the beginning of the production of the first generation of cars. Throughout the time, he worked in various leadership positions. He managed the operation of the Paint Shop, the Quality department or the project to start the production of the second generation of Kolín models in 2014. In his career, he also worked in the management of Toyota's sister plant in Poland. He holds the post of vice president in the Association of the Automobile Industry of the Czech Republic.

Dąbrówka Król

head of clearance operations EEU, FedEx

Speaker

BIO:

Stanislas Bailly

CEO, SNECI & board member, CLEPA

Speaker

BIO:
Stanislas Bailly graduated from Ecole Polytechnique, and holds a Masters of Science from MIT and a MBA from INSEAD. After starting his career at JP Morgan in Hong Kong, he joined SNECI, a consulting & services company specialized in the automotive industry, in 2010. In 2011, he moved to Shanghai to open the SNECI China office, where he lived until 2014. He became CEO of SNECI in 2022 and has since diversified its activities beyond the automotive sector to become a leading player improving industrial & commercial performance across industries. He is a Board Member of the French Automotive Suppliers Association (FIEV) and of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA), and also serves as a Board Member of ACTIA, a 500-million-euro company specialized in electronics.

Petr Novák

COO Central Europe, JTEKT

Speaker

BIO:
Petr Novak graduated from university in Pennsylvania in International Business and Finance, he also has an MBA from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois. He has been working for JTEKT Bearings Czech Republic since 2001, in 2012, he took position of company President. In 2018 he took an international assignment as General Manager of Global Acceleration Team at JTEKT’s headquarters in Nagoya, Japan. In 2020 he accepted a position as Director Corporate Planning at JTEKT European headquarters in Lyon, France and in 2021 he was nominated as Director of Automotive Operations for JTEKT Europe responsible for nine manufacturing plants in EMEA region. In 2024 he was promoted to his current position as Chief Operating Officer JTEKT Central Europe with P&L and all functional responsibility for operations in UK, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic and Romania. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Automotive Industry Association of the Czech Republic and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce in Olomouc.

Lukáš Rosůlek

Country Head of Czech Republic, Schaeffler

Speaker

BIO:
Lukas started his career as a trainee at Skoda Auto and has worked in the automotive and industrial sectors throughout his life in various management positions.

He spent almost 13 years at Continental, three of which were as a plant manager of the Manila plant in the Philippines. Upon his return in 2015, he took up the position of plant manager in Trutnov. After the creation of Vitesco Technologies in 2019 and the subsequent spin-off from Continental in 2021, managing director and Country Head of Vitesco Technologies Czech Republic, in addition to the position of Plant Manager in Trutnov, he holds the position of managing director and Country Head of Schaeffler, in addition to the position of Plant Manager in Trutnov.

Lukas speaks publicly on the topics of transformation of the Czech industry, the competitiveness of the Czech automotive industry, and electromobility.

Vladimír Vaňo

Chief Economist, Wealth Effect Management

Speaker

BIO:
Vladimir Vano is macroeconomist, economic policy advisor and keynote speaker currently serving as Chief Economist for the Wealth Effect Management o.c.p., a.s. - licensed securities broker and private assets manager. On top of an accomplished career as chief economist for an international banking group headquartered in Vienna, Vladimir's experience spans big four consulting, technology sector, media, think-tanks as well as public sector service of senior policy counsellor at the Ministry of Finance, including advisory role for the Deputy Prime Minister Ivan Miklos. Vladimir Vano is alumnus of Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien and Carlson School of Management. A laureate of the Rector’s Academic Award of Comenius University in Bratislava, he studied at its College of Management, and thanks to competitively won scholarships also at the College of Charleston, Georgetown and New York University. He also attended courses at Graduate School of Management of St. Petersburg State University (Russia), Sun Yat-Sen University (China) and Indian School of Business. Vladimir served on the Board of the Pontis Foundation in Bratislava, as well as on the International Alumni Board of the WU Executive Academy in Vienna. He previously served on the supervisory board of the Export-Import Bank of Slovakia and on supervisory board of the EIB-funded Venture for Future VC Fund. French Favikon ranks him among the most influential LinkedIn and X profiles in the Slovak Republic.

Zdeněk Dušek

Partner, EY

Speaker

BIO:
Zdeněk Dušek is a Partner at EY Czech Republic and the regional sector leader for Aerospace, Defense & Mobility in Central and Southeastern Europe. For over 15 years, he has guided leading automotive brands—including ŠKODA AUTO, BMW, Porsche, Toyota and Hyundai—through transformation across the entire value chain: from production processes, planning, distribution strategies and sales models to CRM/DMS, retail digitalization, e-mobility and autonomous driving.

Dušan Valient

director, Trenčín technology center & engineering operations, Adient Slovakia

Speaker

BIO:
Director of Adient Technology Center in Trencin, which is with more than 500 employees one of the largest automotive development centers in Slovakia.

Ľudovít Ódor

member of the European parliament, former prime minister of Slovakia

Speaker

BIO:
Ľudovít Ódor is a Slovak economist, former Prime Minister of Slovakia and Member of the European Parliament. He previously served as Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia and Chief Economist at the Slovak Ministry of Finance. He helped shape major economic reforms, including Slovakia’s euro adoption strategy, tax and pension reforms, and measures to strengthen fiscal responsibility. He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Zdeněk Petzl

executive director, Czech Automotive Industry Association

Speaker

BIO:
Since 2016, Zdeněk Petzl has served as Executive Director of the Czech Automotive Industry Association, where he actively advocates for the interests of member companies and contributes to the development of programs and policies supporting the automotive industry, the most important industrial sector in the Czech Republic. From his previous diplomatic work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, he brings extensive knowledge of public administration, a strong understanding of European law and expertise in legislative procedures in both Prague and Brussels. As Chief Legal Counsel in the Office of the Government Agent of the Czech Republic before the Court of Justice of the European Union and as Legal Advisor to the Ambassador for Internal Market Affairs at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU, he also gained valuable experience in managing and coordinating the work of teams of lawyers.

Pavol Turňa

CEO, Porsche Werkzeugbau & Porsche Smart Battery Shop 

Speaker

BIO:
Pavol Turňa is a manager and industry expert with extensive experience in industrial manufacturing, mechanical engineering and corporate management. Throughout his career, he has held senior management and statutory representative positions in several companies in Slovakia. His work focuses on business development, strategic management and supporting industrial projects.

Petr Knap

Strategic Advisor for the Automotive Industry & Event Host

BIO:
Petr has spent more than 30 years in the automotive and manufacturing sectors and has delivered over 100 consulting projects across CEE. For sixteen years he was a partner at EY Consulting; he has worked independently since 2023. His clients have included BMW, ŠKODA AUTO, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Porsche CEE, Schaeffler, Aures Holdings, AutoWallis Group, CSG or PROMET Group. He writes and speaks regularly on where the industry is heading. Today he advises Czech family-owned industrial groups, mentors founders, and invests in early-stage companies. He is the author of PACE®, a model for self-managing teams and organizations with minimal hierarchy, an ambassador for the Global Peter Drucker Forum in Vienna, and a member of the editorial board of Magic Mag from Prague, which champions Czech ideas, art and business abroad. More at linkedin.com/in/petrknap · paceorg.org