Conference: Health Tax Reforms — Challenges and Lessons Learned

Xiaoqing Yu is a Country Director for the Western Balkans in Europe and Central Asia in the World Bank. Prior to that she held a position of the Strategy and Operations Director in ECA. She joined the Bank as a Young Professional in 1996. She has held various positions including Human Development Sector Director for East Asia and the Pacific, Director of the Social Protection and Labor Global Practice, and Director of Strategy & Operations in both Human Development and EAP. In her current position, she is providing: (i) strategic directions to the World Bank’s work in the Western Balkans in support of the governments' reform priorities; (ii) leadership to the country team with a focus on results, partnerships, and efficiency; and (iii) overall leadership to the Vienna ECA office.

Dr. Birckmayer work, both domestic and global, focuses on exploring and improving the connection between data and evidence and effective policy and program. She currently to foversees efforts supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies to assist low-and middle-income countries implement effective tobacco tax policies. Jo has supported international efforts to advocate for effective tobacco policies using data and evidence. Domestically, she has advised states on how to use data to improve the effectiveness of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug prevention systems and to evaluate health programs. She also spent six years in West Africa implementing and evaluating child survival projects. Jo’s research has focused on policy evaluation and the development of logic models to guide prevention practice and evaluation. She has a PhD in health policy from Harvard University and a MPH from the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.

Mario Holzner is executive director at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw). He is also coordinating economic policy development and communication with a focus on European economic policy. In recent years he worked on issues of infrastructure investment in greater Europe, proposing a European Silk Road. He obtained his PhD in economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business in 2005. He is also a historian at the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna. Mario Holzner was a 2023 DG GROW Fellow.

Dr. Jeffrey Drope is the Director of Tobacconomics, as well as a Research Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Jeff’s work focuses on the nexus of public health (including tobacco control, nutrition, physical activity, alcohol misuse, etc.) and economic policymaking, especially taxation, trade and investment. His tobacco control work focuses particularly on tobacco taxation, illicit trade of tobacco products, the science and regulation of novel products (e.g., e-cigarettes), tobacco’s economic costs, and the economics of tobacco farming. He is the author/editor of three books and more than 100 research articles, chapters and reports on the political economy of non-communicable disease, including in journals such as the Lancet, Preventive Medicine, Tobacco Control and Social Science & Medicine, among many others. From 2012 to 2020, Jeff was Scientific Vice President of Economic and Health Policy Research at the American Cancer Society and was previously Professor in Residence of Global Health at Marquette University. Jeff earned his Ph.D. in international political economy from the University of New Mexico.

Gintarė Milkamanavičienė is a policy officer at the European Commission with more than fifteen years’ experience in excise duties. Gintarė currently specializes in taxation and other control measures for tobacco and new generation products. Prior to joining European Commission she worked as a Chief Tax Expert in the Ministry of Finance of Lithuania where she was in charge of excise policy also during the pre-accession phase. She was responsible for the transposition of the EU excise legislation into national law and working on the revision of the excise duty laws, including imposing excise duties for heated tobacco and liquids for electronic cigarettes. Gintarė holds a master’s degree in public (tax) administration.

Former Macedonian Ambassador to Sweden, CEO, World Bank consultant, Swedish Institute advisor, and University lecturer, Aleksandra served as Special Advisor to the Minister of Finance of North Macedonia when undertaking health taxation reform in 2023. She is GSPIA alumnus and a proud recipient of the University of Pittsburgh International Public Service Award for 2016. Her academic and professional background spreads across corporate and public finance, with over 25 years of distinguished career in the public service and the financial sector - including 20 years at senior management positions in policy making and in corporate executive - as also in academia and working with international financial institutions.

Bert Brys is Senior Tax Economist, Head of the Country Tax Policy Team and Head of the Personal and Property Taxes unit in the Tax Policy and Tax Statistics Division of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. He joined the OECD in 2005. Prior to joining the OECD, he worked on tax issues for the Flemish regional Government in Belgium. He holds a Ph.D. degree from the Tinbergen Institute, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He also obtained Master degrees in economics from the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain), from CenTEr at Tilburg University (the Netherlands) and from Universiteit Antwerpen (Belgium).

Dr. Salaru, MPH, is a Public Health Specialist with master's degree, and holds a position of Deputy Director at the National Agency for Public Health, subordinated to Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova, boasting a 30-year career that spans environmental and public health domains. As the deputy Director at the National Agency for Public Health, he leads over 30 staff members in developing and implementing national public health policies and programs, with a particular focus on non-communicable disease prevention and tackling risk factors (tobacco, alcohol, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and air quality). His extensive experience includes project management and partnership establishment with key stakeholders such as WHO, UNICEF, EU, and SDC. He has played a pivotal role in nationalizing Sustainable Development Goals in public health and promoting the WHO's Health in All Policies approach. Dr. Salaru has been instrumental in the adoption of significant legal frameworks in environmental health and NCD prevention. His contributions to WHO publications underscore his expertise and commitment to advancing public health initiatives.

Dr. Jarosław Neneman, Ph.D., serves as the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Finance in Poland, where he is responsible for tax policy and legislation. He has held this role during multiple tenures: 2004–2005, 2006, and 2014–2015. As a Lecturer in Economics at the University of Lodz, he teaches Microeconomics, Public Finance, Managerial Economics, Introduction to Game Theory, and Tax Policy. From 2010 to 2014, Dr. Neneman volunteered as a counselor to the Polish President, focusing on local government issues. Since 2011, he has been the Chairman of the Council at the Centre of Tax Documentation and Studies Foundation in Lodz. Apart from his teaching duties, he actively writes reports on tax issues, including health taxes, and authors textbooks on applied economics for students.

Senior economist specialized in fiscal policies, development economics and monitoring & evaluation. In fiscal policies, his work focuses on excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugar- sweetened beverages, fiscal space, tax revenues and mobilization of domestic resources, tax incentives, tax administration and governance. In development economics, his work is on health & social protection systems, sustainable development, macroeconomic modeling, and economic growth. In monitoring & evaluation, his focus is on strengthening institutional capacity for monitoring systems, and on designing formative, process, outcome and impact evaluations to inform decisions on improving interventions. Norman received a BSc. and MSc in Economics from the National University of Colombia, and PhD in Economics from The Ohio State University in United States. Before joining the Bank, Norman was director of PROESA, Research Center on Health Economics and Social Protection at Universidad Icesi in Cali, Colombia.

Dr. Mirjana Čizmović is an esteemed economist with extensive experience in teaching and research, specializing in quantitative methods in economics, data analysis, cluster and network analysis, international finance, and both macro- and microeconomics. She holds a PhD in Economics from Beogradska Bankarska Akademija and a Master's degree in Actuarial Science from the University of Belgrade. Dr. Čizmović has over 18 years of academic experience as an Assistant Professor at the University Mediterranean, Montenegro Business School, and has been serving as the Executive Director of the NGO-Institute for Socio-Economic Analysis (ISEA) for the past decade. Her professional journey includes significant international projects with organizations such as the World Bank, EBRD, and ILO, and notable roles like Fulbright Scholar at The City College of New York and Board Member at Elektroprivreda Crne Gore AD Nikšić. Dr. Cizmovic has also contributed her expertise to various institutions including the EU Business School and Università Politecnica delle Marche and served as an M&E and Training Specialist for the World Bank's projects in Montenegro.

Dr Zubović has been the Director of the Institute of Economic Sciences since 2015. Prior to this, he was a Lecturer in microeconomics and a Research Associate with the Institute of Economic Sciences. Jovan’s research focus has been in tobacco economics, agricultural economics and labor economics, and tax policy in low- and middle-income countries. He has led several local and international projects that the Institute of Economic Sciences and the Economics Institute conducted, either independently or jointly with other institutions. Jovan Zubović completed his postgraduate studies at Maastricht School of Management, and earned his Ph.D. in economics, at the University Union in Belgrade, Serbia.

Elvina Merkaj has earned her degree in Economics at the University of Perugia and PhD at the Polytechnic University of Marche. Currently Elvina is a research fellow at the Polytechnic University of Marche. She has considerable experience on local governmental research and has particular interest on methodological aspects. Her research is concentrated on local finance, local governance and development and financial management.

Dr. Hana Ross is currently Honorary Research Associate at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She is also a consultant for the World Bank Group’s Global Tax Program and for the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw). Dr. Ross studies the economic impact of tobacco control interventions in Africa, Southeast Asia, and in the European Union. She also works on issues related to illicit trade in tobacco, including measuring the size of tax avoidance/evasion and strategies to control the illegal cigarette market. Dr. Ross received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Agron LLUGALIU was appointed as the Director-General of Kosovo Customs in May 2021, and has since undertaken significant customs reforms. He joined Kosovo Customs in 2001, serving mainly in law enforcement functions due to his passion for tackling crime and corruption. He has served as the Head of the intelligence and risk analysis department, and before he was the Head of the law enforcement department for five years. In the Kosovo government’s efforts to build and enhance national security structures and doctrines, Mr Llugaliu has pioneered many security-related inter-institutional initiatives representing views, strategies, and methodologies of Kosovo Customs. Mr Llugaliu holds a bachelor's degree in customs and international forwarding, and has attended several advanced academic training programs, including those offered by the United States Department of Defense, in the areas of national security, law enforcement, transnational organized crime, terrorism and money laundering.

Sava Laketić is Acting Director of the Tax Administration in Montenegro. Before he was CEO of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for Montenegro and member of the Board of Directors of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham). For the past 11 years, ha has been involved in more than 100 audit and consulting projects, with various roles – from member to leader and project manager. In addition to extensive experience in auditing, he has actively participated in various projects of application of international financial reporting standards (IFRS), improvement of internal processes and procedures, and financial management and reporting. He also worked for Coca-Cola, and public administration before that. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of International Economics, Finance and Business, from the University of Donja Gorica, Montenegro. 

Nermin Koštrebić works as a Senior Inspector-Investigator in the Department for Prevention and Detection of Financial Crime and Corruption, in the State Investigation and Protection Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2007. His main tasks relate to the prevention and investigation of criminal offenses of financial crime and corruption, performing the most complex tasks and cases especially in the field of economy, taxes, customs, and criminal offenses against official and other responsible duties. Previously he worked in the Financial Police of the Federation of BIH. He has participated in dozens of seminars, including by the International Criminal Training Assistance Program of the US Department of Justice (ICITAP) and the Program for Development, Assistance and Education of Prosecutor's Offices in Overseas Countries (OPDAT). He obtained BSc in Economics at the University of Sarajevo. 

Mr. Cebanenco graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies from Moldova, obtaining the master’s degree in law in 2012. He currently holds the position of Head of the Central Customs Office, from the Customs Service of Moldova. He has held a number of positions in the Customs Service of Moldova. Mr. Cebanenco is a member of the working group in charge of the development and promotion of the new Customs Code, and a member of the working group on the reorganization of the customs system. He holds the certificate of the World Customs Organization regarding participation in the "Leadership and Management Development Workshop" training, the OSCE certificate on participation in training regarding the Implementation of an AEO Program and Use of ICT and Non-Intrusive Inspection Methods. During his activity, he received several awards: the Certificate of Merit of the World Customs Organization (2015); Diploma of the Government of the Republic of Moldova (2018); Award of the Presidential Order "Faith to the Country" class III (2020). 

Biljana Tashevska graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Skopje, Department of Financial Management. She received her M.Sc. degree and defended her master thesis titled: Budget deficit, public debt and the crowding-out effect. She also defended her doctoral thesis at the same Faculty and earned a PhD degree in economic sciences. She worked as a demonstrator at the Faculty of Law in Skopje and was engaged in the courses Economics and Applied economics. She also worked at Alpha Bank AD Skopje, in the Credit department. She was elected as junior assistant in Principles of economics at the Faculty of Economics – Skopje and later became an assistant professor in National wealth and national accounts. The main areas of her scientific interest are fiscal policy, public finance, macroeconomics, and welfare state.

Dr. Ana Mugoša is a Senior Economist in the Tobacconomics team at Johns Hopkins University. She is also a Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica, University of Montenegro, specializing in finance, and a Project Director at the Institute for Socio-Economic Analysis (ISEA) in Podgorica. Prior to joining Faculty of Economics, she worked as a Lecturer at Faculty of Economics and Business of Mediterranean University at Podgorica from 2006-2009, where her research focused on financial markets and public finance. Ana is also a member and a founder of Montenegrin Association of Economists. At present, her research interest is expanded from micro to macro-finance level, including short-term and long-term fiscal policies impacts on tobacco use and health among adults and youth. Ana earned a BA in economics (finance) from the University of Montenegro, an MBA in finance from the University of Sheffield, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Montenegro.

Dragan Gligorić is an Associate Professor and Vice-Dean for academic affairs at the University of Banja Luka, Faculty of Economics, with a PhD in Economics. His research focuses on International Economics, Management, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, International finance, International Trade Policy, and Developmental Economics. He has extensive experience as a consultant, teaching assistant, and member of various project teams, and has been involved in numerous international scientific projects and conferences, receiving awards for his international results achieved in scientific research and educational work. He provided various analyses and technical support to for-profit, non-profit and government organizations.

Dr. Michal Stoklosa conducts research and trains policymakers and health advocates in issues around tobacco taxation and illicit trade in tobacco products. Other areas of his research include the effects of tax policies on use of novel tobacco products, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages. He has published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and co-authored health policy reports and book chapters, including The Tobacco Atlas. Michal received a MA in managerial economics from University of Warsaw, a MA in economics from Georgia State University, and a Ph.D. in economics from University of Cape Town.

Richard Stern has worked advising governments on taxation issues for 20 years. He currently leads EY’s Tax Administration and Reform Services, a part of EY’s Global Tax Policy Group since October 2017. Before EY, Richard was Lead Tax Specialist for the World Bank Group’s Global Tax Team, as well as running the World Bank Group’s International tax and Tax Transparency Initiative from 2003-2017. Richard was an economist at the International Monetary Fund for 8 years, working monetary and fiscal issues. He has taught at the Tax and Law Faculty, at the Vienna University of Economics and Business since 2013.

Richard Record is the World Bank’s Lead Country Economist for the Western Balkans. Based in Vienna, he coordinates the Bank’s engagement on equitable growth, finance and institutions across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Richard previously worked across several countries in the East Asia and Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and Africa regions, managing programs on macroeconomics, fiscal policy, trade and private sector development, including assignments based in Kuala Lumpur, Lilongwe, Hanoi and Vientiane. He holds bachelors, master's and doctoral degrees in economics respectively from the London School of Economics, the School of Oriental and African Studies and the University of Manchester.