Lesia Nikitova joined the Basel Institute in March 2026 as Senior Operations Specialist in Kyiv, Ukraine. She brings over 23 years of experience leading complex operations and financial management functions in fragile and post-conflict environments.

Over the course of her career, Lesia has focused on ensuring the transparent and compliant delivery of donor-funded programmes, particularly in the areas of operations, finance, HR, grants and procurement management.

She has led operations for multi-million-dollar USAID- and EU-funded programmes in countries including Ukraine, Armenia, Moldova, Lebanon, South Sudan, Mali, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan, often building systems from the ground up in volatile environments. Her experience includes managing budgets exceeding USD 40 million and overseeing grant portfolios of up to USD 15 million, with consistent audit success.

Lesia holds MA degrees in finance, management studies and translation.