Our Team in Turkmenistan

Mr. Dmitry Shlapachenko brings more than 25 years of experience in diplomacy, international cooperation, political and socio-economic affairs, development coordination, peacebuilding, and strategic planning to the position. At the United Nations, he was most recently Team Leader for the Horn of Africa and the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) at Headquarters in New York with the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) and the Department of Peace Operations (DPO). He also held leadership positions in Iraq, Kosovo, New York, Somalia, Tajikistan, and Vienna.

Prior to joining the Organization, Mr. Shlapachenko worked with the US Peace Corps and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He was also a writer on international affairs in his country.

He holds a bachelor and a master’s degree in international journalism as well as a doctorate in international relations from the University of Kyiv, Ukraine, a master’s degree in political science from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, and a master’s degree in international relations from the London School of Economics in the UK. He also completed a fellowship in international journalism and public policy at Duke University in North Carolina, USA.

Ms. Aidai Kurmanova started her assignment as the Head of Central Asia Office in Almaty on 2nd February 2019. She has 21 years of experience in the field of sustainable development. Prior to joining UNEP, she worked as the State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic for five years. Her main areas of expertise include design and implementation of policies on sustainable economic development. She developed strategic documents on green economy, e-governance, small and medium enterprise. She led the process of nationalizing the Sustainable Development Goals in the Kyrgyz Republic. She has significant practical work experience with the Parliament of the Kyrgyz Republic in improving the environment for business and has promoted draft laws on economic growth. She holds Master degrees on Development Economics from International University of Japan and Public Governance from the Academy of Management under the President of Kyrgyz Republic.

Dr Amir Piric works for UNESCO since 2004, initially as Head of Evaluation Office, within the Internal Oversight Service (IOS) of UNESCO and lately as Chief Programme Coordinator at UNESCO Institute for Lifelong-learning in Hamburg, Germany. He has been appointed as Director (Officer-in-Charge) for the UNESCO Almaty Regional Office as of 1 April 2023.

Before joining UNESCO, Dr Amir Piric worked for various institutions such as the Nordic Institute for Studies on Innovation based in Oslo in 2004, and the Government of New Zealand from 1996 to 2004. He holds a PhD in Public Administration as well as s Masters in European Society, Science and Technology from Roskilde University (Denmark).

Dr Piric holds dual citizenship (New Zealand and Serbia).

Andrei Mikhnev is the World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan starting February 1, 2023. Mr. Mikhnev is leading the World Bank policy dialogue with counterparts in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, managing the country program and the team based in Astana.

Mr. Mikhnev has more than 20 years of international experience focusing on economic development. Most recently, he has led the World Bank Country Office in Mongolia. Prior to that he led programs in Middle East and the Gulf countries aimed at enhancing the competitiveness and private-sector led growth in that region. During his career he has been working on economic reforms in many countries in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Central Asia.

Mr. Mikhnev holds a Ph.D. degree in international economics from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Ukraine.

Mr. Mikhnev, a Ukrainian national, is married and has a son. He speaks English, Ukrainian and Russian fluently and is conversant in Spanish.

Dr. Simonetta Siligato serves as the Director of the UNOPS Austria Multi-Country Office in Vienna, overseeing operations across Austria, Albania, Kosovo*, Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Türkiye with a focus on sustainable infrastructure, resilience-building, and development impact. She brings nearly three decades of experience spanning academia, the private sector, and international development, with a particular emphasis on emerging and fragile contexts across Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Prior to her current appointment, Dr. Siligato has served as Senior Advisor of UNOPS in the Asia region since 2017, leading high-level strategic programming in infrastructure development, livelihoods, and environmental management.

She holds a PhD in Environmental and Civil Engineering from BOKU University in Vienna and a Master’s degree in Life Sciences from the University of Vienna.

Dr. Siligato is committed to leveraging innovative, practical and evidence-driven solutions to advance sustainable development and climate resilience at both regional and global levels.

Egor Zaitsev was appointed as WHO Resident Representative in Turkmenistan in August, 2021. He brings more than 15 years of experience in country office management, advise on health policy to the government, implementation of technical programmes with the governments and building partnership.
Before being appointed as a Resident Representative of WHO in Turkmenistan, he served as WHO Representative in Armenia (2016-2021) developing new law on tobacco control, driving health system policy towards Universal health coverage and assisting Armenia in emergencies including COVID-19 and armed conflict in Nagorno Karabagh through DG NEAR, USAID and other projects.
Mr. Zaitsev began his career with WHO in 2003 as the Head of WHO Country office in Belarus. His main achievements during his work in Belarus is elimination of vertical HIV transmission, strengthened health system response to TB and initiation project on NCDs control in Belarus with participation of WHO, UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA.
Mr. Zaitsev holds a bachelor degree from Minsk Medical institute, Belarus and a master degree in Science Public Health (General) from the University of Edinburgh, UK.

Elena Boutrimova has been Chief of the Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the International Trade Centre (ITC), Geneva, Switzerland since 2009. She joined ITC in 2004 as Trade Promotion Officer for Eastern Europe. Prior Ms Boutrimova was a Project Manager with UNCTAD in the areas of trade facilitation and competition law and policy. Her other previous assignments include positions in UNECE, OCHA and the World Bank. She holds a Masters degree in economics and international relations from a Moscow State University.

Mr. Ennio Boati has served with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) since 2002 in a range of human rights, humanitarian and external relations roles at headquarters and in assignments with field operations across Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. From March 2026, he serves as Deputy Regional Representative and Officer-in-Charge of OHCHR’s Regional Office for Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Boati provided senior strategic, programme and resource mobilization support for the wider Asia-Pacific region from OHCHR’s Regional Office for South-East Asia in Bangkok and earlier served briefly as Deputy Regional Representative a.i. for Central Asia. Earlier in his career, he worked in Geneva with United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms, humanitarian funds and donor relations, and undertook multiple rapid response deployments supporting human rights monitoring, commissions of inquiry and the establishment of field presences in complex operational contexts.

A native of Italy, Mr. Boati began his UN career with UNHCR in Kosovo and North Macedonia, working on humanitarian operations in the Balkans. He later joined the United Nations Secretariat after successfully passing the National Competitive Examination in Political Affairs. He holds postgraduate degrees in humanitarian assistance and human rights and in advanced European political and administrative studies, as well as university degrees in international and diplomatic relations and in economics and management.

Dr. Ganbold Baasanjav is the Head of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) East and North-East Asia Office based in Incheon, Republic of Korea. Prior to joining ESCAP in 2019, Dr. Ganbold worked extensively for the government of Mongolia as a career diplomat, serving as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea (2013-2018) and Vietnam (2004-2008), and more recently as the Ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Sustainable Development.

Earlier he served as the State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Director-General of the Departments of Public Affairs and Asia and the Pacific respectively, and in the Embassy of Mongolia in Pyongyang, DPR of Korea. He earned his BA in International Relations from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), Russia, MA in Political Science from University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA, and PhD in Law from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea.

Jacek Cukrowski is a Chief of the UNIDO Regional Coordination Division for Europe and Central Asia at UNIDO headquarters in Vienna, Austria.
Prior to joining the Regional Coordination Division, Jacek Cukrowski served as a head of the UNIDO Institute for Capacity Development. Previously he worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the capacity of the Adviser on Millennium Development Goals and the Head of the Regional Center for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Earlier, he worked at the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE) in Poland and the Economics Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
The academic background of Jacek Cukrowski includes MSc in systems engineering, a PhD in computer science, as well as a PhD and a post-doctoral degree in economics. In recognition of his professional and academic excellence, Jacek Cukrowski received the title of Professor conferred by the President of Poland.

Jalpa Ratna joins Turkmenistan from New Delhi, India from the post of UNICEF Chief Field Services for the past five years. In this role, she successfully managed 13 field offices, provided strategic guidance, and spearheaded workplace culture change initiatives. In her prior roles, Jalpa served as the Deputy Polio Team Lead in UNICEF Pakistan and as a Senior Advisor (Polio Resource Mobilization) in the Programme Division in New York.

Jalpa's career includes serving as an Emergency Specialist in UNICEF's New York office and Juba, South Sudan. She started her UNICEF journey as a supply logistics officer in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Beyond UNICEF, she has contributed her expertise to organizations such as Oxfam in Sri Lanka, IOM in the UK, Afghanistan, and Kosovo, and Mercy Corps in Tajikistan.

With over 20 years of global and country leadership and management experience, Jalpa, a Kenyan national, holds a bachelor’s degree in Development Studies and Political Science from the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, a Master’s degree in Development Practice and Emergency Relief from Oxford Brookes University, and a Master’s degree in Public Health in Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Mr. Kaha Imnadze was appointed as a Special Representative of the Nations Secretary-General for Central Asia, the Head of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) on 14 June 2023.
Mr. Imnadze brings to the position over 30 years of experience in diplomacy, negotiation, and mediation; foreign, defense and security policy; conflict resolution and political risk assessment. Most recently from 2022 to 2023, Mr. Imnadze served as Ambassador of Georgia to Canada and Permanent Representative to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Prior to this, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations from 2013 to 2022. Earlier in his career, Mr. Imnadze served as a Board Member of the Georgian Political Science Association (2012-2013), Program Director of the Georgian Institute for Russian Studies (2009-2013), Assistant to the President and Spokesman as well as Director of the Georgian State Information Service (2000-2003), Deputy Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia (1998-2000), Deputy Chief of the Mission of Georgia to NATO and Embassy to the BENELUX countries (1994-1998).
Mr. Imnadze holds a Master’s Degree in English Language and Literature from the Tbilisi State University and speaks Georgian (native), English, Russian, and French. Mr. Imnadze is married and has a daughter.

Kemal Goshliyev brings a wealth of experience to the role of the Head of Office since May 2024, having served at UNFPA since 2010 as a National Programme Analyst and Programme Specialist on Reproductive Health, demonstrating expertise in program development, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and coordination.

Prior to his time at UNFPA, Dr. Goshliyev worked with the US Peace Corps, UNDP, UNICEF, and the State Medical University of Turkmenistan. He graduated from the State Medical University of Turkmenistan in 1995 and holds a master’s degree in public health from Western Illinois University, USA.

Mahir Safarli assumed his functions as UNHCR Representative for Central Asia on 1 January 2026. He oversees UNHCR’s activities across Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

He brings over 23 years of humanitarian experience with UNHCR, including senior leadership roles in complex displacement and emergency settings. Prior to his current appointment, he served as Deputy Representative in Greece (June 2023–2025) and Deputy Representative in Ukraine (2021–May 2023), and previously held senior operational and field coordination roles in Syria and Türkiye. Earlier in his career, he held a range of field, protection and management roles across UNHCR operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia and Azerbaijan.

At UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, he worked in the Inspector General’s Office (IGO) (2016–2019), supporting inspection and strategic oversight functions. Mr. Safarli holds master’s degrees in Law (LL.M.) and Public Administration, and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

Prior to his appointment to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, as Security Adviser, Mr Demir served as UNDSS Field Security officer (FSCO) in Karachi, Pakistan (2015-2019) and Garowe, Somalia (2012-2015), and UNDSS Security Information Analyst in Islamabad, Pakistan (2009-2012).

He has more than 20 years of military experience and before joining UNDSS in 2009 has served in several NATO and military security, information analysis, terrorism and counter-terrorism related positions in Balkans, Caucasus and Middle East.

He holds Master’s degree in International relations from Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir, Turkey, and university diploma from Turkish Armed Forces Land War Academy in Ankara, Turkey. He is fluent in Turkish and English.

Appointed Director of ILO Decent Work Team and Country Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia with effect from 1 February 2024.

Born in 1965, Mr. Pouchkin holds a Master’s degree in philosophy and political science from Moscow State University. He is fluent in English, Norwegian, and Russian.

Mr. Pouchkin joined the ILO in 2014 as Chief Technical Advisor. From 2017 till 2020 he served as Senior Employment Specialist, and since 2020 – as Deputy Director at the DWT/CO Moscow. He has been Officer-in-Charge of the office since 1 July 2023.

In 1992 – 1994, Mr Pouchkin lectured in Philosophy at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and till 2001 held different positions within the Norwegian public administration.

In 2001 he joined the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration as a Project Manager, advancing to Senior Advisor at the Norwegian Directorate of Labour and Welfare in 2010. His main areas of responsibility included international cooperation on labour market, labour migration, and employment policies.

Ms. Sahakyan brings over 18 years of experience within the UN system with increasing levels of responsibility from Project Coordinator to UNDP Resident Representative and additional 15 years of professional experience with the Government and the scientific research institutions, the local and international NGOs, the WB, USAID and other international organizations. She has an extensive experience in developing and advancing core reforms for government towards transitional agenda and EU integration; in resource mobilization for development and investment programmes; in negotiating complex solutions with counterparts from state institutions, local authorities, donors and private sector.
Ms. Sahakyan has previously served as UNDP Resident Representative in North Macedonia, and as Deputy Resident Representative in Macedonia, Moldova and Turkmenistan. Prior to joining the UNDP, she worked with the USA based public-private partnership “EurAsia Foundation”, leading the department of economic development. Ms. Sahakyan served also the Government of Republic of Armenia in different positions - heading the Investments Directorate in the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Directorate of Foreign Investments in the Ministry of Economy.
Ms. Sahakyan holds a PhD in Economics (Moscow, State Planning Authority) and a BSc in Business Administration (Yerevan, Engineering University).

Mr. Octavian Bivol brings 25 years of experience in international development and management, and in building resilience in health, education and social protection systems. He was also engaged in disaster preparedness and response in different capacities. Prior to this assignment he held leadership positions in UNICEF, including serving as UNICEF Representative to Bulgaria and Lao PDR, and Deputy Director in the UNICEF Office for the Relations with the European Union institutions in Brussels where he was responsible for the partnership with the EU institutions.
His career with the United Nations dates to 1995, when he joined the UNICEF country office in Moldova as health officer. Mr. Bivol had subsequent assignments with UNICEF including in the Gulf Area Office in Saudi Arabia, in Kazakhstan where he was heading the office in Astana, and as Regional Advisor, Health System and Policy in the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia in Geneva.
Mr. Bivol is a national of the Republic of Moldova and holds a Medical Doctor degree.

Mr. Rustam Babayev is the Officer-in-Charge of the UNODC Programme Office in Turkmenistan. He is a seasoned programme management professional with over 12 years of leadership experience driving initiatives across the private sector, civil society, and international organizations. His strategic approach is grounded in a solid eight-year foundation in law enforcement, complemented by five years of experience in international relations.

Rustam’s expertise in international legal frameworks was applied in his role as a member of the Working Group under the Interagency Commission for Ensuring Turkmenistan's Compliance with International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law obligations. Internationally, as a member of the Core Group for the National Society Legal and Statutory Base Review, he contributed to the successful development of the Guidance for National Society Statutes in 2018.

Rustam holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Turkmen State University and professional certifications in project management, strategic planning, and disaster response. Rustam is fluent in English and Russian.

Mr. Timur Dosmammedov started as IOM Head of Office in Turkmenistan in January 2023. He brings with him an extensive experience in advocacy, strategic communications and partnerships building, programme management and coordination, and resource mobilization. His most recent experience was with UNDP in Turkmenistan where he worked as a Cluster Project Manager to promote inclusive community-based social services, decent work and better employment opportunities for people with disabilities, strengthening the capacity of the national social service workforce and CSOs to provide targeted assistance to vulnerable populations, and contributed to rapid national response to COVID-19.
Before joining UNDP, Timur was for more than 10 years in the Government service.
Timur holds Master of Arts degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from the Center for International Studies and Diplomacy of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and Bachelor’s degree in International Economic Relations from the Turkmen Institute of National Economy.

Viorel Gutu has 30 years of experience in agricultural development, enterprise restructuring, structural reforms and private business development through his involvement in the public and private sector and his implementation of international projects. A national of the Republic of Moldova, Viorel Gutu was appointed to the post of FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Europe and Central Asia in February 2024. Prior to that he served as FAO Subregional Coordinator for Central Asia and Representative for Türkiye and Uzbekistan. He joined FAO in 2014 as the head of the FAO Tajikistan office, leading the Country Office in establishing productive relations with the national government and key donors.

Before joining FAO, Gutu was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry in the Republic of Moldova. In this position, he was responsible for the coordination, monitoring and evaluation of strategic policy implementation in agriculture and rural development. He also served as an economic affairs officer with the United Nations Transitional Administration in Timor-Leste, where he dealt with peacekeeping operations, poverty alleviation and the prevention of emergency situations. He holds a doctoral degree in economics.