The Expert Council and the Board of Trustees play a pivotal role in shaping the standards and strategic direction of the NextWave Awards. The appointment of Manish Kumar—President of the Soltex Group, with over 22 years of experience and distinguished expertise in advancing international economic cooperation—significantly strengthens the councils’ professional capacity and elevates the overall prestige of the award to a new level.
Mr. Kumar, originally from India, has held senior leadership positions at the UK-based companies Petropharma International and Polypharma International. Since 2016, he has served as Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Foreign Economic Relations with Indian Partners at the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He also holds the position of Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Business Assembly.
His professional experience includes developing business partnerships with major international petrochemical corporations, including Hanwha Chemical, SK Chemical, LG Petrochemical (South Korea), and SCG Chemical (Thailand). Under his leadership, Soltex Agro has been advancing its own manufacturing operations in the Tver region while actively developing its technical textiles division.
Manish Kumar has also participated in numerous high-level international delegations. In 2017, he was part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, attended by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. In 2015, he participated in an official delegation to Minsk in the presence of the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee.
Currently, Mr. Kumar is actively engaged in fostering cooperation between Russian and Indian companies. His key areas of focus include pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, financial technologies and digital payments, data centers, agro-industrial development, tourism, textiles, consumer goods, and oil and gas equipment.
