Our Consultants

Vlad Olteanu

One of the most experienced public affairs professionals in Brussels, covering the monitoring and influencing of EU regulations, directives, decisions, and guidelines from early (EC draft) stage to completion. Vlad has a proven track record in working with EU agencies, such as the European Medicines Agency, the European Environment Agency, EASA or the JRC.

He has a full portfolio of governmental relations services at EU and MS (Belgium, France, Germany, Romania) levels, including legal regulatory, strategic media and communications, such as the authoring of media content, media relations and ensuring publication and message dissemination in key media outlets at Brussels and capital levels (Politico, EURACTIV, Brussels Times, EU Reporter).

Patricia Kovacevic

Patricia is an accomplished legal, regulatory, and compliance leader with extensive experience in senior roles at FDA-regulated multinationals like Philip Morris International and Lorillard. She has also held partner positions at premier global law firms.

Currently, she offers consulting services to the nicotine and FDA-regulated industries through her firm, Regulation Strategy, and serves as General Counsel and Head of External Affairs at Cryomass Technologies Inc., a publicly traded U.S. technology and manufacturing company. Patricia's expertise spans corporate law, FDA and EU regulatory compliance, M&A, global food and drug regulation, cannabis/CBD regulation, external affairs, and more.

She authored several articles on nicotine regulation, co-authored an academic treatise, “The Regulation of E-Cigarettes”, as well as various other papers, and is often invited as a keynote speaker or panellist at global conferences and government agencies public hearings. Kovacevic is an attorney admitted to practice in New York, before the U.S. Tax Court, before the U.S. Court of International Trade and before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Emil Mesaroș

Senior professional with over 20 years’ experience in branding, strategic communications & PR, out of which 10 for various companies and entities in the vaping industry, in roles ranging from consultant to general manager. He has also completed a stint in public office, giving him an unparalleled view of how the regulatory processes work in the European Union. He has finished in 2024 his PhD in public affairs and advocacy in the European Union, with a focus on comparative lobbying.

Shamil Norshidi

Shamil Norshidi has a Masters in Economics and is a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and English. He has experience in Malaysia within government relations in the tobacco industry, managing stakeholders in the Ministry of Health, Finance and more. He understands the work needed to navigate complex regional regulatory landscapes and implement robust compliance frameworks. He is accustomed to the steps necessary for import, export of goods and registration of businesses. Shamil was previously a speech-writer and policy-advisor in the Malaysian government. In government, Shamil focused on issues of transportation, youth extremism, economic development and human rights, writing policy for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Law, Ministry of Home Affairs. Prior to the Malaysian government, Shamil was a journalist for Astro AWANI and contributing writer for the South China Morning Post.

Dovy B. Hanoto

Dovy leads the Employment practice and co-heads the Dispute and Corporate practices in PSHP Law. He specializes in the areas of commercial, aviation, employment, and competition. He advises domestic and offshore companies operating in various sectors, including aviation, financial services, and manufacturing. He has a tracking background working on highly regulated sectors such as tobacco and alcohol industries. He has extensive experience in advising and representing clients on competition issues, including issues related to merger control, cartel enforcement, price fixing, anti-competitive arrangements, and abuse of dominance position. In providing legal advice and solutions to his clients, Dovy is known to be comprehensive and puts his extensive legal knowledge and experience to the service of the needs of the client, while also considering relevant business environment and trends. He is an active member of the Indonesian Air Law Society (Masyarakat Hukum Udara). Currently, he leads the Navigation Law Division of the organization.

Siddhaant Mohta

Siddhaant studied International Relations at the London School of Economics (LSE) and has worked or studied in seven countries. Since 2013, he has been a consultant to Dentons, focusing on business development for the India desk and cross-border projects. He leads Sopaan, an advisory firm helping clients navigate the Indian market, and serves as a Trustee of Make-A-Wish Foundation India and Honorary Director of Allsport Foundation. He has advised the Indian Chamber of Commerce, served on the Executive Council of CII Young Indians, and was the founding Youth Ambassador for the 21st Century Icon Awards. His past internships include roles at the House of Lords, HSBC, and Citigroup.

Elena Ruiz

Elena is an independent, hands-on public affairs strategist and advocate based in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 20 years of experience in international tobacco and nicotine companies. Prior to embarking on her consulting journey, she served as a key member of Juul’s international government affairs team. Previously, she held roles of increasing responsibility at JTI, specializing in communications, government affairs, and regulatory advocacy across national, regional, and global spheres. Elena holds a master’s degree in international economic relations and is fluent in English, Russian, and French.

Cristian Ciornea

Cristian has a steady and extensive career in regulatory and legal compliance as well as in research.

He excels in simplifying complex legal frameworks across various key domains such as marketing, media communications, investigations, trade and commerce, sanctions, privacy, intellectual property, and product development. In a fast-evolving world, Cristian offers valuable insights and intelligence to enhance the decision-making process.

Charles Archambeau

A vaping specialist, Charles worked as Chubby Gorilla’s International Sales Director.

For five years, Charles spearheaded the company’s global development into over 100 countries, providing the only fully compliant bottle in each market.

At the end of 2021, he parted ways with Chubby Gorilla to return to the United States and focus on a range of industry issues. Charles’ professional background offers him a unique perspective of the challenges faced by the vapor industry around the globe – a perspective he is eager to use in assisting all the sector’s businesses.

Charles is passionate about helping people quit smoking and is the best guide for companies trying to understand how vaping legislation works.

Jenna Chen

Jenna is a strategic expert in Government Affairs (GA), Lobbying, Advocacy, and Public Relations (PR) with a strong ability to integrate policy monitoring, regulatory compliance, and strategic communications. She has successfully worked in shaping policy decisions across Europe and Asia, working closely with Tier1 governments, international law firms, and consulting firms to drive favourable regulatory outcomes.

Of special note is her activity in government relations and regulatory compliance for Elfbar, China’s leading e-cigarette company. In that capacity, Jenna led Elfbar’s public affairs strategy in Europe, engaging with Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), federal and state representatives to secure favourable regulatory conditions. In her compliance-oriented activities, she developed policy risk assessments and a strong regulatory response framework in collaboration with top international law firms and government advisory bodies, ensuring corporate compliance and market entry strategies.