Leadership
Pavlo Verkhniatskyi
Managing Partner, Director
Pavlo is an expert in sophisticated integrity due diligence with an international component. He also leads research on country and political risks and conducts cross-border investigations and asset tracing for global corporate players. Pavlo provides COSA’s clients with an in-depth understanding of behind-the-scenes particularities of business relations and country specifics.
Prior to establishing COSA, Pavlo worked as a risk analyst in Moscow, focusing on financial and industrial business groups based in Russia and other post-Soviet states. Requested by international businesses and European embassies, he also monitored and analysed economic and political activities inside Russia and its foreign policy, as well as in Central Asia and Caucasus states, building a strong knowledge of the FSU.
For several years, Pavlo acted as a consultant to foreign companies involved in international trade activities within the FSU, Balkans, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. With a specialisation in the arms trade market, his field of expertise included support for cross-border commercial transactions, security and compliance risk assessment, as well as informational and analytical facilitation of international tenders.
Pavlo holds a Master’s degree in International Economics.
Safian Khan
Partner, South Asia
Safian is an expert in international strategic management. His key work focuses on strategic decision-making, partnering with clients to resolve challenges, create value, and maximise growth, while enabling them to expand their operations internationally and improve business performance. He has a broad understanding of business operations in an international context.
To date, Safian has played strategic roles in the development of various initiatives, including the transformation of the strategic role of a political party, conducting risk assessments for international actors, evaluating the threats posed to them by non-state actors, playing a key role in the expansion of an oil company amidst the tensions in the Gulf, initiating and forming a strategic alliance between two competitors in the ship management industry, etc.
Safian holds an MA in International Relations from Regents University London.
Nikolay Kolesnikov
Partner
Nikolay is an expert in forensic, internal control and financial analysis. He brings a unique combination of security and growth advice for COSA’s clients with a focus on safe expansion.
He has more than ten years of experience in private equity, M&A, corporate finance, controlling, and forensic analysis. Nikolay started his career as an auditor for the Big Four consultancies, where he was responsible for audit & compliance, as well as identification and evaluation of business processes. He worked in corporate finance, financial analysis, and risk management, which allowed him to join several large industrial holdings and hone his skills there.
He worked at the largest multinational telecommunications, metallurgic and mining companies, where he gained expertise in strategic financial planning, management accounting, business process improvement, and forensic analysis. He also managed multijurisdictional teams in an international venture fund where he applied his knowledge of investment management, as well as domain product ownership. The experience he gained over the course of his career gave him an understanding of the different ways business is done in such countries as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Tanzania, and others.
Nikolay is a member of the ACCA and has both the CIA and the CFE licence.
Taras Boroda
Partner, Director of Operations
Taras specialises in conducting cross-border investigations, as well as complicated enhanced due diligence projects and sanctions compliance tasks. He always finds optimal solutions for clients and manages the analytical units to provide the most in-depth and reliable information to businesses on their path in non-transparent environments.
Taras started his work at COSA in the very beginning of the company’s operations and has gained a solid experience in Pre-M&A due diligence, corporate investigations, and asset tracing as an analyst and manager.
Prior to joining COSA, Taras worked at the Prevention of Corruption Committee of the Parliament of Ukraine. As part of this work, he was engaged in the identification of corruption risks, as well as the development of anti-corruption policies.
Early in his career, Taras conducted political and economic research for the needs of the Ukrainian Institute for Public Policy, as well as the International Centre for Policy Studies.
Taras holds a Master’s Degree in Finance and a Bachelor’s Degree in Management of Classified Information Security.
Irina Myroshnyk
Head of Strategic Partnerships
Irina is a seasoned business development executive. Having joined COSA in 2021, she has since built a proven track record of driving business growth and representing the company at high-level international meetings and forums.
She is widely recognised as a trusted connector across the international business community, building high-value networks spanning industry, government, and key stakeholders. Irina excels at bridging ideas and opportunities to deliver measurable results and strengthen the company’s position within key global ecosystems.
As Head of Strategic Partnerships, Irina leads the development and execution of high-impact alliance strategies, securing and managing senior-level partnerships that enable market expansion, commercial growth, and long-term strategic value creation.
Having extensive business development experience in complex industries, Irina advises executive leadership on strategic alliance priorities, cultivates relationships with key partners and stakeholders, and supports complex transactions.