Ben Aris

Ben Aris is the founder and editor-in-chief of business new europe (bne), the leading English-language publication covering business, economics, finance and politics of the 30 countries of the former Soviet Union, Central and Southeastern Europe and Eurasia. Ben started his career in Russia in 1993 as a freelancer before eventually becoming the Moscow bureau chief for the Daily Telegraph. He left Russia in 2003 for a sojourn in Berlin as bureau chief for The Guardian before founding bne in 2006 and returning to Russia in 2008. A specialist on emerging Europe, Ben is one of the longest serving foreign correspondents in eastern Europe and has lived and working in many of the countries of the region including longer stints in: Ukraine, Estonia and Uzbekistan. During his two decades covering the region he has written for a range of titles including The Financial Times, Newsweek and Institutional Investor as well as being a contributing editor at Euromoney and The Banker for over a decade. Ben is also an award-winning professional photographer with a contract with the London based agency Camera Press. Ben was voted "Best Business Journalist in Russia" by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti in both 2012 and 2013.