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Expert has a prestigious 26 years of experience in applied accounting, economic and financial analysis, and research combined with personal computer technology. His major work areas include accounting and financial analysis (including project evaluation, historical credit risk assessment, structured finance, restructuring, and privatization proposals) for projects in power, water, energy, gas, agriculture, agro-business, industry, and banking. Being a commercial banker for seven years, Expert holds a BA in Accounting and earned his MBA and Ph.D. degrees in finance from the University of Chicago. Experience in Latin America, Central, and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, South Asia, Middle East, and China.

30 years of experience in agriculture. Three areas of specialty; applied animal and crop production, agricultural credit and finance, and agricultural value chain assessment. Born and raised on a dairy and crop farm; in the past, owner, operator of his dairy farm; and at present own, operate 150 A hay and grain farm. Agricultural and agro-business banker for seven years. He worked on agricultural trade policy issues and agricultural value chain assessments with The World Bank. The studies resulted in seven publications on agricultural value chains and trade. Have BS in animal production and MS in agriculture production.

15 years of experience in the financial and economic aspects of the small, medium, and large enterprises in the energy and related businesses. Experience includes operating the commercial and financial operations of electric utilities and other companies, IAS restatement of accounts, financial analysis, value chain analysis, demand studies, business valuation, development of methodology and calculation of tariffs, cost of service studies, unbundling, restructuring, privatization, credit, and loan repayment evaluation, financial management assessment, subsidy policy, and risk analysis.

21 years of experience in the financial aspects of electricity and public utilities. This experience includes commercial operations of a utility (mainly distribution), transaction advisor, cost/benefit analysis, financial analysis, business valuation and plans, development of methodology and calculation of tariffs, cost of service studies, unbundling, restructuring, privatization, credit, and loan repayment evaluation, financial management assessment, subsidy policy, monitoring and evaluation, and risk analysis. He has traveled, allowing his expertise to span Latin America, Central, and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, South Asia, and China.

GEOGRAPHIC EXPERIENCE
North America: United States
South America: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Bahamas, Panama
Central Europe: Bosnia, Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuanian, Estonia, Palestine
Eastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Moldova
Africa: South Africa, Liberia, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, South Sudan
Central Asia: India, Maldives, China, Mongolia
Southeast Asia: Laos, Indonesian, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh

PROFESSIONAL AGRICULTURAL EXPERIENCE

USAID (USAID/AFR/SD/EGEA).
Working within the framework of both the Global Climate Change and Feed the Future Initiatives, wrote a discussion paper underscoring the evolution of renewable energy in recent years and its application towards enhancing productivity in the agricultural sectors of developing countries in African. The paper, entitled “The Importance of Energy in Agriculture,” first tracks the role energy has played in developed countries' agricultural economics in improving efficiency and productivity and then extends this analysis to the developing African country scenario with the inclusion of renewable energy. The main conclusion is that renewable energy today offers rural populations in Africa a chance to develop beyond their traditional subsistence level of farming with cost-effective renewable energy technologies. Moreover, in the last decade, renewable energy has become cost-effective due to increased manufacturing technology and economies of scale related to the mass production of individual units.

The World Bank
Within the Republic of Georgia, developed the financial, credit, and economic analysis of the restructuring of the wine sector. The goal was to increase its international marketability. The study included a detailed look at the financial and credit condition of several of the larger wine producers, the impact of the proposed reforms on the small grower, and financial projections of expanding the market into the international marketplace. In addition, an analysis was performed of the various scenarios related to the existing three-year inventory due to the embargo by Russia of Georgian spirit products. As part of the assessment, Expert examined the value chain of production to processing to market to determine if any efficiency could be gained given the current system was based on FSU modeled markets.

The World Bank
Examine the historical financial statements for financial analysis and agricultural credit risk of 11 different agribusinesses within Ukraine for the Agricultural Structural Adjustment Loan. The agribusinesses consisted of 5-grain marketing cooperatives, one rendering plant, three fertilizer and agrochemical suppliers, and two machinery suppliers. As part of the analysis, the value chain of each sub-sector was examined to determine the overall market viability of the enterprise compared with alternatives.

The World Bank
Worked as agricultural finance (microfinance) credit specialist on the Rural Credit Loans to Latvia and Lithuania. The rural credit loan itself set up two commercial banks specializing in agriculture and agribusiness. Expert participated in the initial structure of each Bank. In Latvia, responsibilities also included instruction of credit risk analysis of microfinance projects to domestic lenders at the Agriculture and Rural Finance Banks. The instruction included proper credit evaluation of both agribusiness and agricultural producers, value chain assessment, current agriculture lending practices, and procedures to help domestic lenders more efficiently process loans, micro-enterprise financial services, and advise ways to improve both credit risk evaluation and loan processing. In Lithuania, responsibilities were to evaluate proposed credit procedures for efficiency and correct decision-making and perform in-field examination of proposed projects for inclusion in the World Bank sub loan. In addition, for each country’s PMU, he has developed procedures for project progress reporting.

The World Bank
The Emergency Farm Credit Program (Kyrgyz Republic) presented a Policy Analysis on the rural banking and credit system, the collapsed agricultural finance sector, and the lack of agricultural credit available to the sector for seasonal agribusiness and agriculture lending. In addition, he estimated agriculture’s inputs (fertilizer, seeds, and agrochemical) demand and supply, examined the entire value chain of the major crops to determine the overall profitability, and based on findings, developed a credit in-kind lending program within the institutional constraints of the agricultural financial system.

The World Bank and Government of Croatia
Trade and Financial Analyst for the Agricultural Structural Adjustment Loan in Croatia. Presented a policy and value chain analysis of domestic agriculture commodities, agribusiness production and distribution policies, agro-industrial economics, and agricultural marketing channels for barriers to trade, export promotion, amounts and direction of government subsidies and transfers, and estimation of agriculture trade protection indicators. As part of the study, a detailed examination of the agribusiness portion of the value chain (including processing margins) was undertaken to determine abnormalities in marketing margins that created excessive taxation on producers. In addition, the cost structure of input markets (including credit and rural banking, fertilizer, agrochemicals, and labor) for each commodity was studied to determine if any hidden subsidies or taxes existed through excessively high or low input prices. Commodities included within the study had beef, pork, milk, corn, wheat (cereal), and wheat flour.

The World Bank and Government of Ukraine
Trade and Financial Analyst for Agricultural Structural Adjustment Loan in Ukraine. Presented a policy and value chain analysis of domestic agriculture commodities and agribusiness production and distribution policies, agro-industrial economics, and agricultural marketing channels for barriers to trade, export promotion, amounts and direction of government subsidies and transfers, and estimation of agriculture trade protection indicators. As part of the study, a detailed examination of the agribusiness portion of the marketing chain (including processing margins) was undertaken to determine abnormalities in marketing margins that created excessive taxation on producers. In addition, the cost structure of input markets (including credit and rural banking, fertilizer, agrochemicals, and labor) for each commodity was studied to determine if any hidden subsidies or taxes existed through excessively high or low input prices. Commodities included within the study had sugar, sugar beet, sunflower, sunflower oil, winter wheat (cereal), corn, pork, poultry, and eggs.

The World Bank
Trade and Financial Analyst for Agricultural Structural Adjustment Loan in Russia. Presented a policy and value chain analysis of domestic agriculture commodities and agribusiness production and distribution policies, Agro-Industrial economics, and agricultural marketing channels for barriers to trade, export promotion, amounts, and direction of government subsidies and transfers, and estimation of agriculture trade protection indicators. As part of the study, a detailed examination of the agribusiness portion of the marketing chain (including processing margins) was undertaken to determine abnormalities in marketing margins that created excessive taxation on producers. In addition, the cost structure of input markets (including credit and rural banking, fertilizer, agrochemicals, and labor) for each commodity was studied to determine if any hidden subsidies or taxes existed through excessively high or low input prices. Commodities included within the study had beef, pork, milk, sugar beet, sunflower, winter wheat.

The World Bank
Alternate task manager, financial manager, and economist to a US$ 300 million loan to the agribusiness sector of China. Responsibilities include the compilation and processing of financial data from Chinese agribusiness sources and financial, value chain, and economic analysis of 34 different agribusiness sub-projects, along with the credit risk analysis of the agro-sponsors of the sub-projects. Types of projects include agribusiness manufacturing, the establishment of grain exchange, agricultural protein and animal feed production, and aquaculture. The kinds of agro-business analyzed included protein (oilseed) processing mills, large State farms, aquaculture production facilities, wholesalers, and fertilizer manufacturers.

The World Bank
The project involves measuring agricultural trade protection in nine Latin American countries to aid in developing and monitoring progress towards of trade liberalization program. Responsible for database compilation, initial and continued calculation of aggregate trade protection indicators, and development of a standard analytical model of trade protection measurement for other countries to collect data and calculate the degree of protection within their respective economies. Presented a policy and value chain analysis of domestic agriculture commodities and agribusiness production and distribution policies, Agro-Industrial economics, and agricultural marketing channels for barriers to trade, export promotion, amounts, and direction of government subsidies and transfers, and estimation of agriculture trade protection indicators. As part of the study, a detailed examination of the agribusiness portion of the value chain (including processing margins) was undertaken to determine abnormalities in marketing margins that created excessive taxation on producers. In addition, the cost structure of input markets (including credit and rural banking, fertilizer, agrochemicals, and labor) for each commodity was studied to determine if any hidden subsidies or taxes existed within the value chain through excessively high or low input prices. The nine countries included Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Costa Rica. Commodities included within the study were Beef, Pork, Wool, Milk, Rice, Barley, Sunflower, Wheat, Cotton, Sorghum, Soybean, Tobacco, Tomatoes, Cocoa, Coffee, Palm Oil, Sugar beets, Apples, and Grapes. Nine official World Bank publications resulted from the work, and Expert coauthored seven.

(Undisclosed) Farm
Founder, owner, and operator of 250-acre hay, cereal grain, and oilseed commercial farming enterprise in Maryland, USA (small/medium enterprise development). Responsible for all farm management, agricultural production and value chain management, and agricultural credit (microfinance) decisions, including formulation of agronomy plans, capital and operating funds required and their allocation, fertilizer, agrochemical (weed control) and integrated pest management decisions, production, and harvesting schedules, marketing program, farm mechanization maintenance and repair, and post-harvest handling and storage. On an annual basis, 140 acres of hay, 70 acres of wheat, and 20 acres of soybeans are grown. Of the main agronomy crop, hay, three varieties are grown; 30 acres of alfalfa, 40 acres of timothy grass, and 70 acres of traditional grass are harvested. In addition, a marketing program has been developed for the hay that targets customers that require premium quality hay.

Chicago Board of Trade
Worked on the grain trading floor of the CBOT while attending graduate business school at the University of Chicago. He started initially as an order delivery clerk and, after 3 months, was promoted to grain trader within the corn futures pit. Responsibilities were the execution of buy and sold orders from customers off the trading floor. In addition to the day-to-day activities, he was required to remain up to date concerning the supply and demand of various commodities, value chains at multiple points within the agro-business marketing chain, worldwide weather reports, and other statistics relating to the consumption of the commodities.

Farmers & Mechanics National Bank, Frederick, Md. (1984-1989)
Agribusiness and Agricultural Loan Officer
As the top agribusiness and rural finance loan officer for the 2nd most extensive agricultural loan portfolio in the State of Maryland, Expert was in charge of all lending to the farming sector. Within this capacity, my responsibly included taking initial loan applications from potential borrowers, credit risk analysis of all agribusiness and rural credit applications either taken by himself directly or by others through the branch network of the Bank, approval authority for any loans under $100,000, monitoring of existing loans and development of workout strategies for non-performing loans that existed before he entered the Bank. When he assumed the role as credit risk officer, over $12 million in nonperforming loans existed from the previous lending before my arrival. After 4 years, all the existing agricultural-related loans were classified performing with the total loss to the Bank of only $63,000. In addition, he was the first to adopt PC technology in the Bank. Expert programmed an agricultural loan evaluation sheet to analyze farm loans that were later adapted for agribusiness and commercial (nonagricultural) lending. The same software he developed was still being used within the Bank for loan evaluation as of 2005. Another major accomplishment was the adoption of detailed filing on each agricultural and agribusiness loan. The details included an inventory of fixed assets used as collateral, financial statements, loan documents, business plans, and any other necessary documentation related to the loan. The system he developed was later utilized for commercial loans.

American Breeders Service, Deforest, WI. (1983-1984)
Dairy Cattle Geneticist
American Breeders Service was the leader in the world in the agribusiness of producing advanced genetics for dairy and beef production. Was a regional geneticist who was responsible for the procurement of young males that would enter the progeny test program. Visited numerous dairy farms on the East Coast of the US to inspect genetically superior female dairy cattle suitable for contracting to produce a male for progeny testing. Purchased for the company approximately 100 young males each year with a value of US$ 2 million. Other responsibilities were monitoring the progeny test program in the area (around 200 different dairy heads across the East Coast) and supporting the sales force through various lectures, export promotion, seminars, and on-farm visits with a dairyman. Also worked numerous trade fairs and shows with the marketing representative.

Chestnut Ridge Farm II (March 1982 – May 1985)
Founder, owner, and operator of an 800-acre dairy, hay, cereal grain, and oilseed commercial farming enterprise in Loudon County, VA (small/medium enterprise development). Responsible for all farm management, agricultural production and distribution, and agricultural credit (microfinance) decisions, including formulation of agronomy plans, capital and operating funds required and their allocation fertilizer, agrochemical (weed control) and integrated pest management decisions, production and harvesting schedules, marketing program, farm mechanization maintenance and repair, and post-harvest handling and storage. The dairy farm consisted of a total of 120 head of purebred dairy cows and replacements. Of the total, 80% were registered Holsteins and 20% purebred Brown Swiss. The rolling herd average of the animals was 2nd highest in the County and 13th highest in the State of Virginia within three years of starting production. On an annual basis, 100 acres of hay, 350 acres of wheat, and 350 acres of soybeans are grown. Of the main agronomy crop, corn was most harvested for animal feed.

Ru Ann Dairy (1982)
Worked on a large California Dairy farm as a summer intern. The dairy at the time milked over 1,000 dairy animals and had the highest rolling herd average of any dairy in the United States during that period. They were also a leading breeding establishment of purebred Holstein cattle and owned and operated a dairy cattle genetic evaluation program to prove young Holstein bulls' genetic merit. Role included production/harvesting of various cereals and oilseeds used in animal feed, farm management, post-harvest handling and storage, and all phases of animal husbandry.

Chestnut Ridge Farm I (1972-1982)
Worked with father on a purebred Brown Swiss Dairy Cattle Farm (small/medium enterprise development). During this period, he was active in purebred dairy cattle shows. Role included production/harvesting of various cereals and oilseeds used in animal feed, farm management, post-harvest handling and storage, and all phases of animal husbandry, including genetics, nutrition, veterinary work, and farm management.