CEE Property Forum & Awards Gala 2026 - Vienna, Austria

Registration & Welcome Drinks

Introduction of the Annual CEE TOP 100 List

Building on the success of country-specific TOP 50 lists, Property Forum will unveil the third edition of its CEE TOP 100, a publication listing the 100 most influential people in the CEE real estate business.

CEE Property Forum Awards Gala

Join us to celebrate the best projects, most impactful transactions, and most inspiring personalities and companies in the CEE real estate market

Warm-up Party

Guests can enjoy an amazing food and drink offer, including several uniquely themed bars.

Premiere: Property Forum’s First Annual CEE Real Estate Film & Welcome Comments

Speaker:

• Csanád Csürös, CEO, Property Forum
• Richard Stephens, Executive Editor & Business Development Director, Property Forum & Editor, The Poland Observer

Introducing the MCs of the Day

Speaker:

• Angelus Bernreuther, Moderator / Head of Business Development, DEFAMA
• James Dearsley, CEO EMEA, Verv
• Paul Toyne, , Strategic Independent Advisor

Presentation Building for Heat, Building for Resilience: A Climate Scientist's Warning

How will rising temperatures and increasingly frequent extreme weather events reshape the built environment? This presentation by climate scientist Diána Ürge-Vorsatz explores the risks climate change poses to real estate and what developers, investors and building owners must do to prepare for a hotter, more unpredictable future.

Speaker:

• Diána Ürge-Vorsatz, Professor, CEU / IPCC

Presentation Opening Keynote: Five Postcards from The Future

What will the real estate market look like in the years ahead, and which trends will shape its transformation? Five forward-looking perspectives explore the economic, technological and structural changes that could redefine investment, development and occupier demand across CEE.

Speaker:

• Daniel Bienias MRICS, Managing Director CEE & Poland, CBRE
• Gábor Borbély, Senior Director, Head of Research CEE, CBRE

Panel Credit When Credit Is Due: Let's Talk Financing

Is real estate financing finally entering a new growth cycle, and how are lenders adjusting their strategies? The discussion explores financing conditions, pricing, risk appetite and the availability of debt for acquisitions, refinancing and new developments.

Chair: Jakub Zienkiewicz, Legal Director, Finance & Projects, Pinsent Masons

Panellists:

• Georg Blaschke, Head of Real Estate Finance CEE & Benelux, Helaba
• Dieter Knittel, Head of CEE, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank
• Patrick Mittmann, Partner, Andersen (Germany)
• Marius Perșenea, Chief Operating Officer, IULIUS Company
• Hannes Wimmer, Managing Director, Loan Capital Markets, Erste Group Bank AG

Panel Powering the Digital Economy: The Data Centre Investment Opportunity

Can CEE become a major destination for data centre investment, and what will it take to unlock its potential? The panel examines growing demand for digital infrastructure, access to power, site selection, financing and the challenges of developing and operating data centres.

Chair: Kinga Barchon, Partner, Real Estate Leader, PwC Polska

Panellists:

• Dávid Hoffer MRICS, Business Development Manager, Callis Development
• Christian Schiberl, Manager, Head of Technical Advisory International, Drees & Sommer Austria
• Janin Söder, Head of Infrastructure Sales DACH, PATRIZIA SE
• Vessela Valtcheva-McGee, Director of Market Development CEE, GBCI Europe

Panel Reaching New Highs: CEE & SEE Hotel Market Update

What's driving hotel investment and development across CEE and SEE, and where are the next opportunities emerging? The discussion explores investor appetite, brand expansion, changing guest expectations and the strategies shaping the region's hospitality market.

Chair: Adam Konieczny MRICS, Director of Hospitality Asset Management & Investments, ISWM Group

Panellists:

• Farkhad Kamilov, Development Project Manager, Northern Europe, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
• Jelena Moser, Director Development Austria & CEE, Motel One
• Angelina Nekić, CEO, Delta Real Estate
• Jakub Stanislav, Senior Director | Head of Capital Markets CZ | Head of Hotels CEE, CBRE

Panel Riding The Yield Curve: Dealmakers On What Sells Best

What is attracting capital in today's market, and which assets are proving easiest to transact? The discussion explores pricing, yields, liquidity and the sectors and markets offering the strongest opportunities for dealmakers.

Chair: Robert Miklo, Head of Capital Markets Romania, Colliers

Panellists:

• Gediminas Baltakis, Founder & CEO, Managing Director, Prosperus Asset Management
• Martin Jurecko, Real Estate Partner, CMS Slovakia
• Tomasz Kostrzewa, Head of Transactions, LemonTree
• Christopher Mertlitz, Managing Director, Head of European Investments, W. P. Carey
• Anca Nacu, Chief Investment Officer, NEPI Rockcastle
• Andrei Vacaru, Head of Capital Markets CEE, iO Partners

Panel Future Proof Assets: The Investment Management Checklist

What makes an asset resilient, competitive and investable over the long term? The panel explores the investment management checklist, from operational performance and tenant demand to ESG, taxation, capex and the strategies needed to protect and grow asset value.

Chair: Katarína Brydone, Managing Partner, Czechia, Colliers

Panellists:

• Daniel Banach FCCA, Partner, Tax, Forvis Mazars in Poland
• Grzegorz Chmielak, Head of Valuation & Capital Markets, AXI IMMO
• Sorin Preda, Founder & CEO, Global Vision
• Tim Wilkinson MRICS, Head of European Acquisitions, Indotek Group

Managing Complex Portfolios: Data Foundations Behind Performance, Reporting & Growth

Small workshop-style roundtable discussion with senior real estate executives. Confidential, high-level discussion on how trusted financial data drives portfolio performance, yield protection, and investor confidence. Participants will compare real-world experiences of managing data complexity across multiple CEE markets, exploring how they can move from fragmented reporting to transparent, AI-ready decision support. The goal is shared insight — not comparison. Every leader leaves with new perspectives, ideas to test, and stronger professional relationships.

Beyond Location: What Really Drives Building Value

Introducing the Building Wallet: The Digital DNA Connecting Building Performance, Asset Value and Financing.

Panel Beyond the Hype: How Real Estate Takes Advantage of Artificial Intelligence

Where is AI already delivering measurable value in real estate, and which applications have the greatest potential? The discussion examines practical use cases across investment, asset management, operations and decision-making, separating genuine opportunities from technological hype.

Chair: Tom Ogrodzki, CEO, REDD Group

Panellists:

• Martin Decký, CEO, BuiltMind
• Maciej Markowski, CEO, SquarePlan
• Marko Pavlović, Co-Founder, MetaProp Labs
• Sylwia Toczyska, Enterprise Account Management, Vistra Fund Solutions
• Iztok Šušteršič, CTO, LynxCraft

Panel Special Spotlight: Current & Emerging Investment Opportunities in SEE

Which Southeast European markets offer the most attractive investment opportunities, and what is driving investor interest? The panel examines capital flows, emerging asset classes, market fundamentals and the opportunities and risks shaping investment strategies across the region.

Chair: Răzvan Gheorghiu-Testa FRICS, Partner, Head of Real Estate Practice Group, Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii (in collaboration with Andersen Global)

Panellists:

• Uroš Grujić MRICS, Senior Director | Head of Investment Properties SEE, CBRE
• Michal Maco, Country Manager Slovenia, Corwin
• Gabriela Reyes Vidrio, Head of Real Estate Project Finance, NLB Komercijalna banka
• Dobrin Staikov, Managing Director, Capital Markets, Lion's Head
• Nikolina Vukelić, Real Estate Expert, Erste Plavi
• Adina Welsh, Executive Director Bulgaria, Raiffeisen Property Holding International

Panel All About Residential: Defining the Must-Haves For Developments

What do today's homebuyers and renters really want, and how should developers respond to changing expectations? The discussion explores affordability, location, design, amenities, sustainability and the features that make residential projects commercially successful.

Chair: Radek Kučera, Partner & Founder, Grafton

Panellists:

• Ján Krnáč, CEO, Cresco Real Estate
• Renata McCabe Kudla, Country Manager, Grupo Lar Poland
• Danka Morávková, Head of Real Estate Finance, Tatra banka
• Tomas Picha, Senior Director of Transactions in CEE, Invesco Real Estate
• Daniel Puchalski, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Immo Lab

Panel CEE: Europe’s New Logistics, Manufacturing & Defence Hotspot

Can CEE strengthen its position as a European hub for logistics, manufacturing and defence-related investment? The panel explores nearshoring, supply chain restructuring, infrastructure, industrial development and the growing demand for specialised facilities across the region.

Panellists:

• James Fitzgerald, Director, Head of Industrial Agency, iO Partners
• Julie Paulson, CCO, Urbanity
• Péter Számely MRICS, Head of Real Estate Finance CEE, HYPO NOE Landesbank
• Barnabás Sági, Counsel, Co-Head of Real Estate, Kinstellar Budapest

Panel Retail’s Unstoppable Rebound: Creating Experiences, Driving Footfall

How are retail destinations reinventing themselves to attract visitors and maintain their competitive edge? The discussion examines changing consumer behaviour, tenant mix, customer experience, accessibility and the strategies that turn footfall into long-term commercial success.

Chair: Paul Kusmierz, CEO, MMG

Panellists:

• Piotr Karpiński MRICS, Senior Director | Head of Property Management CEE & Poland, CBRE
• Tamás Méri, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer, Access4you
• Simona Parvanova, Leasing and Marketing Director, Trinity Capital
• Tamás Simon, Retail Sales Director, Indotek Group
• Piotr Szafarz, Partner, Head of Real Estate in Poland and CEE, Dentons
• Dominik Uhe, Head of Investor Relationship Management, Kaufland International

Panel Office 3.0: New Strategies to Keep Up with Changing Needs

What does the next generation of office space look like, and how can landlords respond to evolving occupier requirements? The panel explores workplace flexibility, technology, sustainability, operational efficiency and the strategies needed to keep office assets attractive and competitive.

Chair: Nikolay Georgiev, Director, Valuation & Advisory Services, Colliers

Panellists:

• Anna Bartoszewicz-Wnuk, Head of Central & Eastern Europe, SINGU
• Tomáš Juríček, Development Manager, Immocap
• Risto Kukk, Global Workplace Real Estate Manager, BOLT
• Tomasz Michalczyk, Head of Office Agency, AXI IMMO
• Mirko Smiljanić, Managing Director, Serbia, Grandum Property Management

Panel Competing for Capital: The New Geography of FDI and Real Estate

Where will the next wave of global investment land, and what makes a location stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape? How can investment promotion agencies, free zones, developers and international financial institutions work together to unlock opportunities across Europe and beyond?

Panellists:

• Dr. Stefan Kratzsch, Head of the Sustainable Investments and Responsible Business Unit, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
• Andrius Veršinskas, Head of Business Division, Kaunas IN

Panel Back on the Map: Hungary Under a New Light

Is Hungary ready to regain investor confidence and attract a new wave of real estate investment? The discussion examines changing market conditions, investment opportunities, financing and the factors that could determine the country's competitiveness in the coming years.

Chair: Dániel Ódor MRICS, CEE Head of Real Estate & Construction, Taylor Wessing

Panellists:

• Kristóf Bárány, Founding Partner, Adventum Group
• Tamás Pásztor, Deputy CEO, Forestay Fund Management
• Manuel Simon, Head of Investment Real Estate, VIG Fund / Vienna Insurance Group AG
• Peter Tatzl, Director of Investment, GalCap Europe
• Balazs Zelles-Görgey, Director, Head of Capital Markets, Hungary, Colliers

Panel Closing C-Level Panel: Bold Predictions for 2027

What will define the next chapter of the European real estate market, and where will the biggest opportunities and risks emerge? The closing discussion looks ahead to 2027, exploring capital flows, investment strategies, market sentiment and the trends most likely to reshape the industry.

Chair: Richard Stephens, Executive Editor & Business Development Director, Property Forum & Editor, The Poland Observer

Panellists:

• Charles Boudet, CEO, iO Partners
• Thomas Kaechele, Head of Germany and CEE, M&G Real Estate
• Andreas Kozma, Founder & CEO, iREMS International AG
• Josef Malíř, Executive Director, SCF
• Niksa Markovac, Head of Commercial Real Estate International, Erste Group
• Petr Čížek, CEO, Investika