Nikita Demekhin

About

A career built on operational depth.

Nikita Demekhin - formal portrait

Industrial leader with 20 years of operational experience, moving from operating leadership into board governance. I built and led an EPC business to 450 people and more than 200 industrial projects across petrochemicals, energy and infrastructure. Today I chair the board of FireTech Engineering BG in Bulgaria and serve as CEO of Mainstream Petrochemical Instruments FZE in the UAE.

I built a board of directors from scratch inside my own company — not as a theoretical exercise, but as a hands-on governance practitioner. That gives me a rare perspective: I understand both sides of the boardroom table.

Currently completing the IMD Board Readiness Diploma, focusing on corporate governance, board dynamics, risk oversight and the intersection of AI with strategic oversight. I have directed an AI deployment that closed six functional loops end to end — HR, tenders, engineering, legal, finance and operations — across an engineering organisation of about 150 people, together with the governance that keeps it alive: access architecture, a data perimeter, written procedures, role-based training and review points. My academic foundation is a PhD-equivalent in systems analysis — the methodology of determining root causes when complex industrial systems fail — and an Executive MBA.

Based between Spain, the UAE and Bulgaria. Open to independent director and advisory board roles in industrial, energy, infrastructure, and technology-driven companies globally.

Young Presidents' Organization (YPO)

Chapter Chair 2023–2024Learning Officer 2022–2023Certified Forum ModeratorMember 2020–2024

Education & Executive Programs

St Petersburg University of the State Fire Service

Candidate of Technical Sciences (PhD-equivalent) — Systems Analysis, Control and Information Processing, 2011

Dissertation: a methodology for framing and solving systems-analysis problems in determining the causes of failures at industrial facilities.

St Petersburg University of the State Fire Service

Engineer, Fire Safety — with honours, 2006

Graduate School of Management, St Petersburg State University

Executive MBA, 2012–2014

Wharton Online

Business Strategy: Competitive Advantage, 2019

Duke University (Fuqua)

Operations Management, 2014

Aalto EE

Innovation & Entrepreneurship, 2013

IMD / YPO

High Performance Leadership, 2024

IMD Business School

Mastering Board Governance — completed, 2026

Part of the IMD Board Readiness Diploma — in progress, completion spring 2027.

IMD Business School

Boards and Risks — completed, 2026

Part of the IMD Board Readiness Diploma.

IMD Business School

Digital and AI Transformation for Boards — completed, 2026

Part of the IMD Board Readiness Diploma.

SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management

School of Rectors 12 — 5 modules, 360 hours. Institutional governance and leadership talent pool for university rectors and public-sector executives, 2017

Presidential Programme for Management Development

Competitive national selection, 2011

Three external selections across thirteen years — a national government programme, an academic leadership talent pool, and an international peer community — none of them tied to a company I own.

Career Journey

Jan 2025 – Present· Bulgaria

Chairman of the Board

FireTech Engineering BG, Sofia

Established the board governance framework and committee structures — risk oversight, strategic planning, stakeholder accountability — and chair the board.

Apr 2022 – Present· UAE

Chief Executive Officer

Mainstream Petrochemical Instruments FZE, Dubai

Lead end-to-end operations, AI-driven transformation, and strategic restructuring for international expansion.

2014 – Feb 2022· Russia

Chief Executive Officer

Pozhengineering

Built and scaled an EPC business across petrochemical, energy, and infrastructure sectors, directing 200+ industrial construction and engineering projects.

Feb 2009 – 2014· Russia

Executive Director

Garant PB

Led operations and business development for an industrial safety and engineering services company, managing cross-functional teams and client relationships.

Jul 2005 – Feb 2009· Russia

Lead Technical Specialist

Ministry of Emergency Situations

Technical specialist in fire safety and emergency management, building the foundational expertise behind the industrial engineering career that followed.

Nikita Demekhin standing portrait
Nikita Demekhin at desk
Nikita Demekhin formal portrait