Management

Tomas Fiala

Tomas Fiala, Chief Executive Officer of Dragon Capital, has over fifteen years’ experience in Central and Eastern European securities markets. He started his career at Bayerische Vereinsbank in Prague in 1994, continuing studies at the Prague University of Economics. In 1995, Tomas joined Wood & Co., a leading regional investment bank, and was sent a year later to Ukraine to establish and run their office in the country. Under his leadership, Wood & Co. became the largest investment bank in Ukraine. Following the 1998 financial crisis, he moved to Wood’s Warsaw office to launch their online brokerage. In 2000, Tomas and his partners teamed up to establish Dragon Capital. Since its foundation, Tomas has been the CEO of Dragon Capital, building the company into the leading investment bank in Ukraine and a trusted financial adviser for international investors. He sits on the boards of several companies, including AIM-listed Dragon-Ukrainian Properties & Development plc. Tomas has twice been recognized as “Best Manager in Ukraine” by Ekonomika publishing house (2009, 2010).

Since December 2010, Tomas has served as elected President of the European Business Association (EBA), a leading organization for foreign businesses in Ukraine which unites over 800 companies employing over a million people. He is also a member of the Council of Investors, established by the President of Ukraine in January 2011. Tomas received a 10-Year Achievement Award from the Kyiv Post for “outstanding contributions to life in Ukraine during the past decade” (2011).

Dmytro Tarabakin

Dmytro Tarabakin has more than fifteen years of experience in Eastern European securities markets. In 1995, after graduating from one of Ukraine’s most prestigious universities, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, with a degree in Economics, and completing a one-year Economics and Finance program at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Dmytro joined KPMG Barents Group to set up the PFTS, Ukraine’s first stock trading system. From 1997–2000, he worked as a senior stock trader in Kyiv and Warsaw with Wood & Co., the region’s leading brokerage house, before teaming up with his Ukrainian and Czech colleagues in 2000 to set up Dragon Capital. Under Dmytro’s leadership, Dragon’s brokerage has become the leader by trading volumes on the Ukrainian stock market, accounting for one-third of reported transactions.

Ukraine’s top business magazine, Biznes, named Dmytro “Leading Personality of the Ukrainian Stock Market” in 2004. He took second place in the category of “Best Broker in Ukraine” in 2008 based on a survey by Thomson Reuters Extel. Dragon Capital was recognized as “Best Broker in Ukraine” in 2010 by emeafinance and as “Best Equity Sales Team in Ukraine” in 2010 by Cbonds, an influential regional finance publication. 

Kamil Goca

Kamil Goca is one of the founding partners of Dragon Capital and has been involved in the launch or structuring of most of the group’s businesses. He currently manages Dragon Capital’s private equity department and is in charge of the company’s corporate affairs. Kamil started his career at Wood & Co. in Prague in 1995 during his studies at the Prague University of Economics. At Wood & Co., he worked for five years in various positions in equity research, investment banking and asset management. In 2000, Kamil moved to Kyiv to help in founding Dragon Capital, establishing the company’s research and later investment banking departments. He has completed transactions in a broad range of sectors, including FMCG, pharmaceuticals, retail, TMT, chemicals, utilities and real estate. In 2007-2008, Kamil served as Dragon Capital’s business development director focused on corporate strategy and new projects across all units of the group. He led and closed a transaction with Goldman Sachs, which acquired a minority stake in Dragon Capital in December 2007. Since 2009, Kamil has been working to institutionalize Dragon Capital’s 10-year private equity track record by launching the Europe Virgin Fund, a regional fund focused on Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. The fund became the first institutional private equity fund raised in Ukraine since the financial crisis. Kamil holds a Masters’ degree in International Relations from the Prague University of Economics.

Brian Best

Brian Best manages the investment banking department at Dragon Capital. Brian joined the company at the start of 2006 after heading his own corporate finance firm, Rubicon Capital. Prior to starting his career in investment banking, Brian spent six years as a Director with one of Ukraine’s largest private equity funds, where he managed investment projects in the telecommunications, media, technology and FMCG sectors. One of his most significant transactions was the acquisition and consolidation of Ukraine’s largest cable television network, Volia Cable, which boasts a 90% market share in Ukraine’s capital. Brian sat on the Board of Directors for many of the fund’s portfolio companies and actively participated in the Fund’s Advisory Board meetings. Before coming to Ukraine, Brian spent three years with the U.S.-based investment bank Lehman Brothers, where he was exposed to different areas of the investment banking business. Brian earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Thunderbird, the #1 ranked School of Global Management.

Natalia Sarguns

Natalia Sarguns, COO of Dragon Capital, is an expert in financial management, optimization of companies’ operations, and Ukrainian and international accounting. After graduating with a degree in Economics, Natalia worked as Chief Accountant in the Kyiv office of Wood & Co., a leading regional investment bank, where she took an initiative to revise, restructure and streamline the company’s back office and managerial accounting. In two years Natalia was promoted to the position of Deputy Financial Officer of Wood & Co.’s Head Office in Prague, where she successfully launched new financial and managerial accounting processes such as the preparation of consolidated financial reports.

In 2000, Natalia became a partner at Dragon Capital and took the position of Chief Financial Director. Since 2004, Natalia has monitored the cash flows of Dragon’s subsidiaries. She also designed a comprehensive reporting system for DIY chain Nova Liniya, one of Dragon’s principal investments. Since 2007, Natalia has been a Senior Partner of EBS, a leading consulting company in Ukraine.