About Mart > Management & Board
Board of Directors & Senior Management Team
Directors:
Wade Cherwayko, Chairman and CEO
Founder of Mart Resources Inc., Mr. Cherwayko has negotiated, financed and developed numerous oil and gas projects over the past 19 years in West and North Africa. Mr. Cherwayko has been active in Nigeria since the early 1990’s advising indigenous oil companies such as Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum Company Limited, Amni International and several other marginal field companies. Mr. Cherwayko was also a co-founder of Centurion Energy with operations focused in North Africa. Previous to working in Africa, he was a consultant for five years for oil companies operating in Canada and South America.
Derrick R. Armstrong, Independent Director
Mr. Armstrong has practiced corporate and securities law in Calgary, Alberta continuously since 1980. He is currently senior counsel and Calgary Regional Leader of the Securities and Capital Markets Group of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, a national law firm. Prior to that he founded and was the senior and managing partner of Armstrong Perkins Hudson LLP. He is currently a director of CYGAM Energy Inc., a public company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange with properties in Tunisia and Italy and he was a director of Centurion Energy International Inc. from 1997 to 2006 which operated in Tunisia and Egypt prior to it being acquired by a Dubai Stock Exchange listed company. He has considerable experience advising public companies active in North Africa. Mr. Armstrong also sits on the boards of two private oil and gas companies and sits on the advisory board of the TSX Venture Exchange.
Dallas L. Droppo, Q.C., Independent Director
Mr. Droppo is a securities, energy and commercial lawyer with the national law firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon, LLP. He has acted for a number of Canadian resource and service companies that have expanded internationally and for foreign corporations acquiring or establishing businesses in Canada. He has considerable experience in all aspects of securities-related transactions including corporate governance and other securities law related matters. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Droppo was a geologist.
Leroy Wolbaum, Independent Director
Leroy Wolbaum is an independent businessman who has been active in the oil and gas industry for over thirty years. He has owned two chemical service companies and has provided consulting services in Africa, China and South America. Mr. Wolbaum is a past board member of Centurion Energy and is a director of Anglo-Swiss Industries Inc. He has been a director of the Corporation since 1997.
Paul Crilly, Independent Director
Mr. Crilly has over 18 years of management and capital markets experience in the energy industry, most recently as President and CEO of Norex Exploration Services Inc., a TSX- listed seismic acquisition company. Norex was merged in 2010 with a larger international services company. Under Mr. Crilly’s leadership, Norex grew from an Alberta based TSX Venture-listed business to become Canada’s largest publically-listed seismic acquisition company with operations across Canada and the United States. Mr. Crilly previously held positions with oil and gas services companies operating in Russia, South America and Europe with hands-on responsibilities for finance and taxation within these regions.
Mr. Crilly, who is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan, is currently a director of Tesla Exploration Ltd., a TSX-listed company with significant international operations, including Africa, as well as Xact Downhole Telemetry Ltd., a private drilling technology company.
Senior Management Team:
Dmitri Tsvetkov, CFO
Mr. Tsvetkov was previously Chief Financial Controller of Heritage Oil Plc, which he joined in 2007. Before that Mr. Tsvetkov was with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Calgary, Canada and Moscow, Russia. Mr. Tsvetkov has more than 18 years of financial and accounting experience in oil and gas industry, and has a CA designation.
Jagjit Arora, Country Manager
Mr. Arora is the Managing Director of Mart Energy Services Limited. He joined Mart in 2005 and in 2006 he was appointed Managing Director of Mart Energy Services Ltd. and Country Manager (Nigeria) for Mart Resources Inc. Mr. Arora is a Certified Engineer with 29 years of international experience in the energy sector. He began his career as a mechanical engineering technician with Larsen and Taubro, overseeing the welding and fabrication of pressure vessels, heat exchangers and reactor vessels. During his time at L&T, he completed all requirements for his formal Engineering Certification through AMIE. He began his career in power with TATA Electric, India’s largest utility, as a project manager on India’s first 500MW generating plants.
Mr. Arora went to work for NOC’s Ras Lanuf Refinery in Libya as project manager responsible for all electrical maintenance and upgrading. He returned to India briefly to work with the GE – BHEL joint venture. GE transferred him to Nigeria to act as GE’s Manager for the entire West Africa region. In this role he was responsible for all power system sales, after market services, turbine sales, energy rentals and GE energy product sales
Zack Malone, General Manager – NRG DRILLING (Nigeria) LTD
Zack Malone has worked more than fifteen years in oil and gas drilling service industry. He has gained his experience from working for Nabors Drilling working his way up to tool-push and drilling supervisor in Canada. Mr. Malone joined Mart as the General Manager of its drilling subsidiary NRG DRILLING.
David Adeoba, Finance Manager – Nigeria
Mr. Adeoba is the Finance Manager of Mart Energy Services Limited.
Prior to joining Mart Energy Service Limited in March 2006, Mr. Adeoba served as the Deputy Chief Accountant and Chief Accountant in AGIP Nigeria Plc between August 1992 and March 2003 and during 2003-2006 he was Financial Controller, at Trojan Estates Limited.
Mr. Adeoba is an Accountant and Project Manager who trained with KPMG with over 23 years experience with Agip, Consolidated Breweries, Trojan Estates, Tilca Nigeria and Bideco Construction; holding posts ranging from Chief Accountant to Chief Financial Officer.
His career development spans across various industries i.e. Banking Industry, Ministry of Economic Planning and Statistics, Audit Firm, Manufacturing and Oil & Gas.
Asiyah Alao, Legal Manager Nigeria
Asiyah obtained her Law degree from the University of Buckingham and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2005; thereafter she started her career with the Nigerian law firm of Banwo and Ighodalo, were she served for three years. While at Messers Banwo & Ighodalo, Asiyah rose to become the assistant head of the oil and gas desk.