Who We Are

Dean specializes in sector reform, strategy, regulation, and utility operations. He has designed and managed comprehensive energy sector reform programs involving restructuring, regulatory reform and market rule development and has carried out large-scale utility performance improvement projects. He has also directed or managed large-scale energy and water reform and strategy projects across 30 countries, including Southeast Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. 

Dean previously served as the CEO of an electricity distribution utility, chaired a wholesale electricity market organization and was the Executive Director of several hydropower stations. Prior to NEOS, Dean led the International Management Consulting arm of Tetra Tech Inc. and was also a Senior Partner at PA Consulting Group, responsible for the firm’s emerging markets practice. 

Dean studied Business at the University of California and Public Policy at Harvard University in the United States.

David specializes in project development, business turnaround, and managing complex organizational changes in energy, utilities, and sustainable development. He has led numerous performance improvement and business transformation efforts for organizations in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He has carried out multiple infrastructure transactions, from project development and due diligence to actual project implementation. 

Before NEOS, David served as the chief executive at several large and medium-sized organizations and led Tetra Tech’s management consulting practice in the Middle East and Africa. 

David studied Energy Management at ESCP Business School in the UK and France, Business Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands, and Organizational Leadership at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

George Karagutoff is a senior-level energy expert with more than 25 years of professional experience in energy and finance. George served as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer at energy utilities in Europe, with direct responsibility for the overall management and reorganization of the companies, energy trade, and regulatory and tariff issues. 

He has transitioned and managed privatized companies in several countries and has extensive financial consulting experience, having worked as a Partner at Ernst & Young and Arthur Anderson in Europe. 

George is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an MBA from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria.

As a NEOS Engagement Manager, Marc Levesque brings a unique blend of expert-level knowledge to NEOS. By applying innovative perspectives on business challenges, Marc can harness the capabilities of IT systems to deliver on business needs affordably, thus ensuring that it is the technology that serves the business functions. He consistently delivers practical and affordable solutions by combining his strong engineering background with his cybersecurity and digital systems expertise. All aspects of cybersecurity are covered, including legislative frameworks, maturity models, critical infrastructure, national guidelines, NIST and ISO security management systems, cybersecurity risk management processes, and more.

Marc studied Engineering at Carleton University in Canada and Blockchain Strategy at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

Luis brings extensive experience as a strategy consultant and past experience in project management, strategy definition, financial modelling, organization restructuring, process reengineering and performance improvement to his role as a NEOS Engagement Manager. He has participated in several long-term strategy definition and implementation projects for various utility companies and has carried out numerous projects involving operational improvement and growth. 

Prior to joining NEOS, Luis was part of Tetra Tech’s energy and utilities practice focused on strategic planning and operational excellence. 

Luis studied Economics at Universidade Nova de Lisboa in Portugal and holds an MBA from Hult International Business School in Dubai and Shanghai.

Rami is an experienced Oil & Gas professional with a background in Project Management and extensive experience in supply chain, risk management, data analysis, and performance improvement. With his knowledge of the energy sector, he has led the management and delivery of multiple lump-sum turnkey projects valued at over $1 billion for various national oil companies in the Middle East and Africa. He has a proven track record in advising and designing effective strategies and organizational revamping and has thus improved the efficiencies within many regional public firms. 

Rami studied Mechanical Engineering at the American University of Sharjah, UAE and obtained a master’s degree in Engineering Management from the University of Wollongong in Australia. He also holds a certification in ESG Investing from the CFA Institute.

Margarita specializes in financial planning, management, and audit. She brings a depth of experience in analyzing organizations and designing robust cost-optimization strategies and practices. She supports clients internationally, through a unique and comprehensive combination of experience paired with her analytical rigor, which elicits insights that help support the client's vision.

Brian Daw brings 26 years of engineering and project management experience with the evaluation, planning, design, and construction administration of conventional and advanced water and wastewater treatment and infrastructure projects for municipal and industrial clients.

A registered Professional Civil Engineer, Brian's experience includes evaluation and design of pretreatment, filtration and disinfection processes, advanced oxidation processes, residuals handling systems, chemical feed systems, transmission and distribution system modeling, distribution system and pump station design, and storage tank design. As a Project Director, Brian brings valuable experience in guiding utilities through long-term capital and operations planning efforts. This includes addressing the variety of standard and challenging concerns that utilities manage for meeting their water quality, treatment, regulatory compliance, distribution system and general facility improvement level of service goals.

Frank Eibisch is a Green Consulting business leader with more than 30 years of experience in the energy and waste sector. He is highly experienced with leading teams in complex Solid Waste Management projects, Solid Waste Management strategy development, planning, analysis, and transaction advisory. He has consulted with and facilitated stakeholder workshops with leading international engineering and consulting firms and energy companies.

In addition to his role as a NEOS Expert, Frank is Managing Director and Partner of BC Berlin; a firm focused on combining value-based socio-political goals with the technological challenges of the time, implementing projects, and introducing Green Innovations worldwide. His diverse experience spans over 20 countries and involves multiple projects dedicated to helping clients transition their programs, policies, and infrastructure to long-term economic and sustainable systems.

Frank holds an MSc with distinction in Geography from the University of Potsdam, Germany, and a degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, with one year spent as part of the ERASMUS Exchange Programme at Liverpool University (LHUC), UK.

Fidan Aliu is an experienced revenue protection and internal control specialist with deep knowledge of developing and implementing effective processes aimed at loss reduction, preventing cases of energy and water misappropriation, and ensuring internal compliance practices. Fidan has set up and successfully led revenue protection and internal audit functions at utilities and has a solid track record of decreasing technical, commercial, and collection losses by reorganizing the internal control and revenue protection functions,  and implementing business processes to prevent, detect, and recover the losses associated with power and water theft.

Dr Mamuka Kikalishvili is a prominent C-level executive with a breadth of experience leading performance turnaround efforts at electricity, water, and gas utilities. He has successfully delivered organizational transformation initiatives for assets owned by significant infrastructure holdings such as The AES Corporation and KazTransGas.

Mamuka specializes in utility executive management, field operations, problem identification and performance improvement. He is experienced in business plan development, asset management, system dispatch, loss reduction and boosting revenues. As a senior management team member, Mamuka has led rapid turnarounds in several poorly performing utilities in the electricity, gas, and water sectors. He has completed many international assignments in diagnosing the challenged utilities, preparing performance turnaround plans, and implementing transformation programs.

Mamuka holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering and has worked with leading advisory and engineering firms such as PA Consulting Group and Tetra Tech Inc.

David Jalili is a Chartered Engineer and MBA (UK), and in his role as Expert, imparts his over 40 years of extensive management and consultancy experience spanning government, multinationals, and local groups in the UK, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. A demonstrable record of accomplishment as a leader, advisor, consultant, and facilitator with a reputation for getting things done. He is passionate about organization effectiveness and delivering results with a focus on organization capability and sustainability. 

In Strategy, OPMS, re-organization, operations and process improvement, innovation, knowledge management, HR performance and productivity, he has led and implemented systems as well as facilitated sessions for prestigious entities in the government and private sector in numerous cities around the world: London, Singapore, Shanghai, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo, Amman, Muscat, Riyadh, Jeddah, Yanbu, Doha, Istanbul, Vilnius, and Nairobi.

For over 25 years, Marijan Ban has specialized as a consultant for Large Scale Solar Farms: rooftop, free-standing, and tracker solar farms. His responsibilities have included overseeing installation and construction execution and supervision, workforce resource assessment, preliminary and detailed studies, and preliminary and detailed design. He is certified in Electrical Engineering for building and is a Certified Electrical Project Manager.

Marijan contributes his in-depth industry experience in PV Solar plants, both basic and detailed design, feasibility studies, and construction delivered in countries across the EU, to his role as a Renewable Energy Expert.

Nick Skinner has worked in the environmental sector for over 22 years, most of that time gaining international experience in more than 30 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In addition to this role as an Expert on the NEOS team, Nick is also Director of Vista Environment AB (VEAB), an independent environmental, social, health and safety consulting company focusing on the energy and transport sector and is directly involved in preparing impact assessments and supervising projects on the ground. 

He has conducted environmental and social scoping and due diligence activities in projects in a wide range of sectors, including energy (gas transmission lines, electricity transmission and distribution, solar and floating solar energy systems), transport (roads, metro, and airports), water, and irrigation sectors. He has also focused on occupational and community health and safety in all studies and has been engaged by World Bank to review OHS issues within their projects. 

Johnathan Walters has worked in the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Asia and has developed extensive senior-level relationships with governments across those regions and with development agencies from the African, Arab, and Islamic worlds, the EU, G7, and OECD countries.

Johnathan's experience has concentrated on energy, developing climate change strategies and action planning, advising and managing climate-related projects on sustainability and decarbonization goals, and development aid strategies. He has worked with 60+ governments in the developing and developed world and gained a practitioner's understanding of governance, politics, and policymaking. As an Expert, his strengths lie in energy transition, specifically, maximizing the use of clean and renewable energy, renewable energy trade and development, and climate change mitigation. 

Johnathan is based in Washington, DC and holds master's degrees from the University of Oxford and the University of London in the UK.