Mr. Rufat Abbasov is the founding partner at Synergy Partnership, a leading PR and marketing company in Azerbaijan. Founded in 2008, Synergy Partnership offers clients exceptional content including consultancy, strategic communications, advertising, social media management and influencer marketing. Mr. Abbasov’s business experience also includes founding, developing and later successfully selling Azerbaijan’s second cinema chain called "CinemaPlus" as well as a Turkish restaurant chain. In 2016-17 he served as an advisor to the Chairman of the Financial Market Supervisory Authority of Azerbaijan and he continues to serve as a member of the supervisory board of several financial institutions in Azerbaijan. Previously, Mr. Abbasov worked as Communications Director at the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and as a correspondent for Reuters. Mr. Abbasov is an alumnus of the Emerging Leaders Executive Education Program at Harvard Kennedy School (2017), holds an MA in Communications Management from the University of Lugano, Switzerland (2014), an MSc in International Economic Relations from the State Economic University of Azerbaijan (2009) and a BA in International Journalism from the Higher Diplomatic College of Azerbaijan (2005).