Board of Directors

Marit Hiim Haugseth

Chair of the Board of Directors
Senior Advisor – Norwegian Fishermen’s Association

Marit Hiim Haugseth started at the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association as a Project Manager in August 2016.

Before joining the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association, Marit worked as a municipal manager and office manager at the municipality of Sør-Varanger. There she was responsible for all international cooperation.

Marit holds MSc from LCI within political science and international relations.

Svein Stolpestad

Deputy Chair of the Board of Directors
Group Vice President – Strategy & Sustainability, Jotun

Stolpestad has the responsibility for Group Strategy, Business Development, and Sustainability for Jotun’s global activities in over 50 countries. His main focus is the development of business opportunities with local businesses within local frameworks.

He has been working for the Jotun Group for a number of years in various management positions, including Finance, Supply Chain, Business Development, and spent 5 years as a Country Manager for Jotun Iberica in Spain. In the role of Group VP, he was deeply involved in Jotun’s development and investments in Eastern Europe. Stolpestad aims to enhance business development within the East CCI and encourage cooperation with organizations in partnering countries for added influence.

Stolpestad holds an MSc (Siv. Ing.) from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and an MSc in Business Studies, Business Administration & Commerce (Siviløkonom) from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).

Ståle Torgersbråten

Board Member
Chief Legal Officer / General Counsel at Eksfin (Export Finance Norway)

Eksfin is a governmental financial enterprise sorting under the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Fisheries. Eksfin was established on 1 July 2021 through the merger of the Norwegian Export Credit Guarantee Agency (GIEK) and Export Credit Norway. Ståle is a Director and holds the position as Chief Legal Officer / General Counsel of Eksfin. Before that he held the position of Director of Legal and Regulatory of GIEK.

Prior to joining GIEK in 2010, Torgersbråten worked as a corporate lawyer at Wikborg, Rein & Co and Law Firm Selmer, the latter as their Head of Office in Moscow. He has worked with Eastern European clients over the last 18 years.

Torgersbråten is a lawyer, holds a cand.jur. degree from the University of Oslo, and he also studied Negotiations, Economy, and Strategic Management at the Norwegian Business School (BI) in Oslo.

Felix H. Tschudi

Board Member
The Chairman of the Board and Owner of Tschudi Shipping Company

Felix H. Tschudi (born 1960) is the Chairman of the Board of the maritime transport and logistics provider, the Tschudi Group, www.tschudigroup.com. The Group provides a wide range of services to the maritime, offshore wind and aquaculture sectors while also being involved in industrial- and port infrastructure developments in Northern-Norway. Tschudi Logistics focuses on worldwide high and heavy project cargoes in addition to landbased logistics on the European continent and southern Africa.

Mr. Tschudi attended the Royal Norwegian Naval Academy and served as Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Norwegian Navy. He earned a Second Mate’s certificate from merchant navy colleges in the UK, a BSc (Econ) from London School of Economics and an MBA from INSEAD, France.

Felix H. Tschudi has served on a wide range of Boards including the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Arctic and as President of the Oslo Shipowners Association. He is currently the Chairman of the Centre for High North Logistics, an applied research centre focusing on logistics solutions in the Arctic under Nord University, Bodø, Norway.

Trond Karlsen

Board Member
Sales Director Emerging Markets, ScaleAQ

Trond Karlsen has been working at ScaleAQ since September 2018. Previously he held the position of Sales Manager at the ScaleAQ Landbased.

ScaleAQ is a Norwegian based company, providing high-quality solutions and services for the fish farming industry worldwide. ScaleAQ has 27 offices in 11 countries, and 900 employees in total. Karlsen is Director of Sales for Emerging Markets.
He is educated from the Norwegian Armed Forces and BI Norwegian School of Management, specializing in internationalization and management.

Before he joined the aquaculture industry, Karlsen’s background is from the FMCG segment. He has been working for brand leadership companies like REMA 1000, Bacardi spirits, Apple, Coca-Cola, and 7-Eleven.

Svein Aage Dahl Olsen

Member of the Board
Vice President, Aker Solutions

Svein Aage Dahl Olsen has more than 20 years’ experience working with Eastern Europe. Prior to joining Aker Solutions, he held management positions with Equinor in their Moscow office and in oil and gas development JVs. He has worked as CFO in Telenor service provider JVs in Ukraine.

Olsen has a broad industry experience within the energy, telecom, and retail sectors. He has an extensive consulting and leadership experience from small start-ups to large mature organizations with various ownership models, spanning cycles of high growth, financial crises, and sanctions.

Olsen holds a MSc from the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (NHH).

Keilih Hagen Nyback

Board Member
Purchasing Director, Felleskjøpet Rogaland Agder

Keilih Hagen Nyback have been working for Felleskjøpet Rogaland Agder since 2007. She have held several positions within the company. Keilih started with sales of agricultural farmhouse equipment and went on as an advisor for animal feed. From 2010-2021 she was the Head Nutritionist and responsible for optimizing the animal feed for the company. In 2021 the company merged the optimization department with the procurement division and she became responsible for leading this division.
Keilih Hagen Nyback have a MSc in Animal Science from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU).

Arnoldas Sileika

Board Member
CEO, Western Shipyard, BLRT Grupp, Klaipeda, Lithuania

Arnoldas Sileika has been working at Western Shipyard Group more than 30 years and since 2001 is CEO of Western Shipyard.

The Western Shipyard Group is one of the largest marine engineering corporations in Lithuania. The main activities of the company group are implementation of shipbuilding, ship repair and conversion projects, complex ship design and engineering solutions, large and complex metal construction and equipment production, and stevedoring services.

Arnoldas Sileika holds many significant social positions such as the President of association of Lithuania shipbuilders and repairers, the vice-president of Lithuanian Engineering and Technology Industry Association LINPRA, the Chairman of the Board of the Lithuanian Maritime Cluster, the Honorary Consul of Estonia in Klaipėda, the Chairman of the Council of Klaipeda university.

Ronny Solberg

Board Member
CEO, Rotura AS / Chair of the Georgian-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce, Oslo

More information to come.

Roar Paulsrud

Board Member
Roar Paulsrud AS , Norge