AUGB is run by a small team based at the Association’s headquarters building in Notting Hill in London.
Petro Rewko
Chairman of the Board and Asset Manager
Qualified as a Civil Engineer. Worked in the construction industry for contractors and freelance as a Project Engineer/Manager/Director. Chaired CYM Ashton from 18 years of age for 9 years. Former member of CYM UK National Committee. Dance teacher, choreographer and dancer of home town Ashton’s Veselka Dance Group since 1991. Member of the Czuplak Ukrainian Dance Ensemble - the first UK-based Ukrainian Dance group to tour Ukraine in 1990. AUGB Ashton Branch Secretary since 1993, member of AUGB Board from 2004 (4 years as Deputy President), AUGB Chair since 2016. Elected as Vice President of the Ukrainian World Congress for Great Britain in 2018 and in December 2019 was elected on to the Board of the newly reformed European Congress of Ukrainians.
Fedir Kurlak
Chief Executive and member of the Board.
Joined Head Office team in 1985. Elected to the Board in 1989 as AUGB Secretary. Responsible for day-to-day management, implementation of Board decisions, planning and liaison between the Board/Head Office/staff/branches/external contacts.
Yonas Abraham
Finance Manager AUGB
A graduate in Accounting and Finance and Qualified ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). Key member of management in most of the organisations involved in over 20 years, worked as a senior finance professional in sectors ranging from Tech startups to long-established, Pharmaceutical companies, Media and Advertising organisations as well as in the Charity sector. Many years of experience in a broad - hands-on role, day-to-day running of Finance Departments and working closely with all stakeholders including external auditors, HMRC, professional advisors and others. Responsibilities included managing all aspects of the finance function as well as being involved in strategic issues such as managing foreign currency and regulatory risks, company pension, managing finance staff and being the main point of contact for finance both internally within organisations as well as for external parties including managing year-end and audit processes.
Dr Ludmila Pekarska
Curator of the Taras Shevchenko Library and Archive
A graduate of Kyiv’s Shevchenko State University (Department of History and Archaeology). Between 1991-2000 worked as a Special Research Assistant in the Department of Medieval & Later Antiquities at the British Museum, London. Awarded the Whitney Fellowship in 1996 and worked in the Department of Medieval Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Awarded a PhD degree in 1997 for her Doctoral Dissertation “Lost Ukrainian Art Treasures of the 10th-13th centuries”. Her publications include the monograph “Der Silberschatz von Martynovka (Ukraine) aus dem 6-7 Jahrhundert” (Innsbruck 1994, 175 pp), "Jewellery of Princely Kiev" (London 2012, 262 pp) and numerous articles in academic historical journals. Dr Pekarska maintains the library’s unique collection of books about Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora – which is the largest collection in Europe outside Ukraine itself - and maintains links with academic institutions and museums in Ukraine, has organised successful joint projects with them, and organises exhibitions, book launches and other cultural events held at Linden Gardens.
Oksana Azhniuk
Community Manager
Graduated from the Ukrainian Catholic University with a master's degree in media communications.
She has been a member of the Ukrainian scouting organisation Plast since 2005.
Previously, Oksana worked in communications and documentary filmmaking, as well as in non-formal education in Ukraine.
Antonina Smyrnova
Communication Officer
A graduate of Kyiv's Shevchenko State University (Department of Philology). For several years she worked in NGOs connected with human rights, tolerance and anti-discrimination topics and then switched to IT companies where she worked as a content manager and copywriter. Moved to London after the full-scale invasion.
Nataliia Stonaieva
Office Administrator
Graduate of Sumy State University with a master's degree in management. Many years of experience in process optimization, streamlining, team management, HR, and digital marketing, with a focus on quality and efficiency. Joined the AUGB team in 2023 after moving to London following the full-scale invasion.