Directors

Jeremy Warner Allen

Chairman

Jeremy joined MPL in December 2018. Mr. Warner Allen has over 25 years’ experience in capital markets. He is currently a Non-Executive Deputy Chairman of OPG Power Ventures PLC and a Non-Executive Director of TP Group plc. Prior to that he was an Executive Director, Board Member and Head of the Growth Companies team at Cenkos Securities plc, where he advised a number of AIM companies over a period of 11 years.

Pavan Bakhshi

Managing Director

Pavan joined MPL from Askar Capital, a Nordic Investment firm with a key focus on emerging economies, where he was a Managing Director and head of their Indian operations. Pavan built Askar’s presence in India and oversaw the deployment of significant proprietary capital for Infrastructure projects in India. Prior to Askar Capital, Pavan was at Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. in its Strategic Finance Group working both in New York and London. Pavan is a graduate from the University of Edinburgh. At MPL in his role as Managing Director, Pavan has been responsible for overseeing the overall development of the port, managing key relationships with the Government and various stakeholders within UK as well as India.

Jay Mehta

Chief Executive Officer

Over 23 years’ experience in port operations and management, port marketing and logistics planning. Formerly worked for Merrill Lynch in New York, Jay holds a Diploma in Port, Shipping and Transport Management from the International Maritime Transport Academy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands and MBA (Finance) from Fordham University, New York.

Stefan Passantino

Non-Executive Director

Mr Passantino has over 30 years of experience in election law, ethics, campaign finance, and lobbying, representing corporations, political figures, and advocacy groups. He has played a pivotal role in compliance and ethics programs, having served as Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States and Deputy White House Counsel, where he led the White House Compliance and Ethics programs during 2016-2018.
Mr. Passantino currently represents leading national political committees, federal candidates, and advocacy groups. In the 2015-2016 election cycle, he advised prominent SuperPACs and advocacy groups, including those aligned with Ted Cruz, Rick Perry, Dr. Ben Carson, and the Trump Presidential Transition Team. He also co-chaired the Republican National Lawyers Association Ballot Access Project.

John Fitzgerald

Non-Executive Director

John is an experienced Director working in the UK and global ports business. His 30 year career working for the two largest privatised port businesses Associated British Ports and Peel Ports, culminated in running the UK's largest and most commercially successful ports complex ABP Humber Ports. Heading up ports large and small John has pioneered many significant long term business development schemes, and managed large scale capital projects both enhancing existing and creating new infrastructure, generating significant shareholder value, and delivering economic value-add to the regions he has worked in. He has recently served as regional Chairman for Confederation of British Industries

Karanpal Singh

Non-Executive Director

Karanpal joined MPL in December 2018. Mr. Karanpal Singh is an Indian based entrepreneur with extensive investments across a range of sectors including steel, iron ore, gold mining, power, transmission and technology. Hunch Ventures, in which Karanpal is a founder, is a substantial shareholder in MPL. Hunch Ventures is a leading investor in India’s growth and has a key focus on its investment in Karanja and scaling MPL.

Amit Dutta

Non-Executive Director

Amit Dutta has over 21 years experience in a corporate career with leading companies such as Unilever, Reliance Infocom, General Motors and American Express. He is currently serving as Managing Director and Co-Founder of BLADE India, a JV between Hunch Ventures and BLADE USA. Amit is also a member of the Board of Directors of Comprehensive Healthcare Systems, USA, a participant in the healthcare technology platform market in the United States and Canada. Amit holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow and a Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from Jadavpur University, India.

Dmitri Tsvetkov

Non-Executive Director

Dmitry has over 27 years of financial, accounting, and operational experience, including substantial experience working with promoter/founder-led energy sector listed businesses in London, Africa, Asia, and Canada. Since November 2017, Tsvetkov has served as Chief Financial Officer of OPG Power Ventures PLC.
He holds the designations of Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, FCCA from the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants in the United Kingdom, and CFA from the CFA Institute in the United States.