Fares Kilzie

Chairman of the Board of the CREON Group, RIAC Member.

Fares graduated from Kuban Medical Institute in 1993. Upon graduating in Krasnodar, Fares began his professional career at Anas Group Corporation in Moscow in 1993. In 1995, he was appointed Managing Director of the company’s Moscow representative office. He was responsible for evaluating the competitiveness of the oil and gas chemical industries in CIS countries, as well as in Central and Eastern Europe. He also audited chemical and petrochemical enterprises, assessing their business performance and growth potential.

In 1996, Fares founded FABA GmbH in Cologne, Germany, where he managed projects focused on optimizing raw material supplies from Russia and CIS countries, as well as financing and risk insurance. He led task forces that analyzed the competitive environment in Central Russia and the Volga region, assessing the overall competitiveness of the chemical, petrochemical, and mineral fertilizer industries.

In 2001, Fares established RCC.ru (Russian Chemical Consulting), the first independent industry consulting agency in the CIS. The agency’s publications on the RCC.ru portal quickly earned it a reputation as one of the most authoritative information and analytical resources in the sector in Russia.

Building on RCC’s success, Fares founded CREON in 2002, a strategic consulting firm for the oil and gas chemical industry. He authored several development strategies for oil and gas companies in Eastern and Western Siberia, as well as the Far East. He also supervised major investment projects in LNG, hydrocarbon liquids processing, LPG, helium, hydrogen, and fertilizer production. His work included overseeing the regional expansion of Russian oil and gas companies and attracting investments from multinational corporations.

In 2014, Fares launched the Rational Approach project in partnership with WWF Russia. As part of this initiative, the founding partners developed and published the Environmental Responsibility Rating of Oil and Gas Companies. The rating aimed to encourage producers in post-Soviet regions, including Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, to use hydrocarbon resources more efficiently (such as through APG recovery and utilization), protect biodiversity, and uphold environmentally and socially responsible business practices. The project’s unique research methodology gained international recognition and helped strengthen Russia’s global image. The initiative concluded in 2023.

In 2016, Fares founded Creon Energy Fund, a private equity fund based in Luxembourg (delisted in December 2023), with Creon Capital as the managing company. Creon Capital invests in promising infrastructure projects in both conventional and green energy, as well as logistics projects that align with international ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) standards while considering local specificities.

In 2017, Fares consolidated all his companies under CREON Group, expanding the business to include new divisions in agribusiness, mining, and metals and mining corporations (MMCs). The Group now consists of 16 business units with offices in Moscow, Shanghai, Singapore, and several other countries. It is also a member of multiple advisory boards, international unions, and industry associations.

At CREON Group, Fares oversees private equity, project financing, and investment assessments in the mining and petrochemical sectors, as well as in various regions and countries.

Since 2002, CREON Group has organized over 600 international and industry-specific events covering various aspects of oil and gas chemical raw materials production and processing, the agro-industrial sector, the mining industry, and MMCs. These events have played a significant role in shaping an innovative development trajectory for the extractive and processing industries in Russia, post-Soviet regions, and beyond.

He has over 30 years of experience in international investment, oil and gas, and mining industries.

He is fluent in English, German, Arabic, and Spanish. He is married and has six children, holding the official state status of a father of multiple children.