Team

Our team is made up of industry-leading cannabis experts, operations and management executives dedicated to delivering top quality, EU GMP-certified medicinal cannabis

Our Management Team

President

Ice Nikoloski

Ice is our President and in-country lead, responsible for overseeing government relations. Born and raised in North Macedonia, Ice identified the opportunity and founded the company. His extensive local network continues to support the operational success of Balcanns. Ice has facilitated governmental relations leading to a successful license application and recruited leading technical specialists dedicated to driving key programs such as plant tissue culture. Ice also brings diverse relationships in the Canadian Financial Services Industry. Prior to Balcanns, Ice was running a leading executive services company in Toronto

Chief Executive Officer

Chris Liddy

Chris earned his M. Sc. degree from the University of Guelph’s Controlled Environmental Systems Research Facility. His studies covered the application of innovative hydroponic systems in controlled environments, with operations ranging from local offices to long-term outer space missions. He’s spent more than 10+ years identifying and minimizing risk, developing and commercializing several products in safety, tracking, and regulatory compliance. This expertise uniquely translates to the successful execution of medical-grade production of cannabis at scale. After all, a successful medical product requires the marriage of environmental control and safety parameters to deliver a consistently dosed product.

VP Engineering & Operations

Zam Hexamer

Zam possesses over 10+ years experience commissioning and operating commercial hydroponic production systems. His resume includes: the design and installation of advanced living wall and green roof technologies, the founding of an indoor controlled environment agriculture company and production experience at a leading Canadian LP.

He brings a unique skill set to Balcanns covering project design and management, the implementation of good agricultural practices (GAP), knowledge of quality risk management procedures and experience in building technologies/construction.

Director of Development and Communications

Peter Dameski

Operations and Security

Slobodan Neveselov

Slobodan is native North Macedonian with an extensive local network and a high level political network. He served 12 years in the Special Police Force and 18 years in the Bureau for VIP Protection. Slobodan provided security services for government officials and high status foreign dignitaries including Presidents and Prime Ministers. Slobodan currently provides training for new recruits at the Bureau for VIP Protection with the government of North Macedonia.

Board of Directors

Scott Kelly

Scott is an experienced entrepreneur, principal investor, and board chair with a demonstrated history of working in the capital markets industry
Former Executive Chairman and Director of Newstrike Brands Ltd., a licensed cultivator and seller of cannabis products based in Ontario
As a founding partner of Newstrike, Scott was instrumental in its creation and establishing its partnership with the Tragically Hip, prior to its proposed C$500 million combination with CanniMed
During negotiations between CanniMed, Aurora Cannabis, and Newstrike, the company’s market capitalization peaked at approximately C$1.15 billion

Peter Slater

Mark Santarossa

Chartered Accountant with more than 10 years of capital markets experience at various bank-owned and independent Canadian investment dealers
Previous Chief Financial Officer of GT Gold Corp.; former Director, Institutional Equity Sales at PI Financial Corp. and formerly with an independent family office hedge fund focused on mining equity investments
Experience with Macquarie Capital Markets Canada, CIBC World Markets, Haywood Securities, and National Bank Financial

Advisory Board

Jamie Blundell

Jeffrey Huber

20 years of experience working in Controlled Environment Plant Production Systems (CES)
Master Grower & Scientist for the largest automated indoor vertical farm in North America
Over 20 Million plants produced concurrently (GoodLeaf Farms; owned in part by McCain Foods Ltd.)
Visiting Researcher at the University of Guelph (controlled Environmental SYstems Research Facility)
Specialized in designing & operating advanced hydroponic Controlled Environmental Systems
Horticultural management strategies for optimized plant performance
Experience with large scale production of pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, leafy greens, vegetables, nursery, & ornamental plants
Secured over fifteen successful funding applications
M.Sc. & Fellowship from the University of Guelph’s Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility
B.Sc. in Horticulture (with a minor in Business) from the University of Guelph.

Logan Chambers

Tier 1 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) Marketing Executive with expertise in Strategy, Product Innovation, and Brand Positioning & Activation
Delivered industry-leading growth on the world’s biggest Food and Beverage brands
Successfully launching several novel CPG products that deliver profitable growth
Developed award-winning consumer communication programs on globally-recognized Food & Beverage brands

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