Our team
Ugo Poletti
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Odessa Journal.
Previously lived in Milan, Barcelona, Pescara, and Rome, working as an entrepreneur, manager, and consultant for Italian, English, French, and Ukrainian companies.
Held diverse roles such as Financial Analyst in a British bank, Export Manager for an Italian fashion company, and Teacher of Fashion Marketing at the European Institute of Design (IED) in Milan, among others. Additionally served as Vice President of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Assolombarda (Milan's industrialists association of Confindustria) from 2002 to 2005.
Giovanni Maria Palladini
Partner at Studio Palladini, is a chartered accountant and auditor offering advisory in tax, finance, M&A, and wealth management for companies and entrepreneurs. Since March 2016, he has served on the board of ItalChamber Finland.
He previously worked at Studio Legale e Tributario Morri Cornelli e Associati in Milan and was a contract professor at Bocconi University in accounting.
Giovanni began his career at Ernst & Young in Milan and holds a master’s degree in Administration, Finance, and Control from Bocconi University.
Enrico Barozzi
Management consultant with 15+ years of experience in steel, commodities, chemicals, agribusiness, and pharma. Since 2008, he has been President and co-founder of Eugenomics, leading innovation and M&A due diligence.
Since 2004, he has invested in high-tech sectors like photonics, fintech, and cosmeceuticals. He earlier co-founded Media Partners, a sports marketing agency sold for €120M in 2006, and held roles at JP Morgan (Milan/New York), Arthur D. Little, and McKinsey.
Enrico graduated top of his class from Bocconi University in Milan in 1979, the first in the Discipline Economiche e Sociali programme.
Antonina Poletti
Co-founder of The Odessa Journal and Ukraine Project Hub, with 20+ years of experience in sales, marketing, communications, and project management across shipping, hospitality, media, and the creative industries. She provides strategic communication and digital marketing services focused on building international narratives about Ukraine.
She has led multidisciplinary teams and developed brand strategies for public and private sector projects. Antonina holds a diploma in Strategic Communication from Projector Institute (Kyiv) and a bachelor's in Logistics and Project Management from Odesa National Maritime University.
Emanuele Volpe
Executive with 25+ years in business transformation and capital project delivery in global energy and industrial markets.
• Innovation Growth: Built and scaled innovation ecosystems generating measurable ROI through partnerships and technology commercialization.
• Project Leadership: Delivered multi-million euro capital projects across oil, gas, refining, and manufacturing on time and budget.
• Market Expansion: Established profitable operations and strategic hubs in Europe, North America, and emerging markets.
• Organizational Change: Led cultural transformations in organizations up to 60,000 employees, driving innovation and operational excellence.
We believe rebuilding Ukraine is a shared endeavour — economic, human, and future-facing. And we’re here to make that future happen.
Ukraine Project Hub Founders