About

Bacardi is served in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa regions by legal director Mateusz Wrzesinski, who brought almost a decade of top international law firm experience upon joining the multinational alcoholic drinks producer in 2012. Wrezesinski accrued private practice experience in the areas of M&As, corporate, private equity, employment as well as capital markets working with a broad spectrum of clients. In terms of his current role, Wrzesinski is particularly proud of the increased geographical remit he has taken over, particularly when Russia – the largest market in the region – was added to his responsibilities in 2016. Wrzesinski says he found this ‘very rewarding and challenging at the same time’. He also notes increased managerial responsibility and the scope for growth with which this afforded him, calling it a ‘truly gratifying’ experience, as well as the way he created the legal function in Eastern Europe from scratch to form it into a ‘more accessible, flexible team considered as innovative and first of all a relevant [partner] to business operations’. Noteworthy projects on the part of Wrzesinski include a ‘massive’ tax optimisation project for the cross-country introduction of a new formula for one of Bacardi’s key brands, setting up a subsidiary for Central Asia in Kazakhstan and the introduction of an ‘innovative’ third party distributors “pay for performance” model. Covering such a wide remit, means he covers legal issues ‘related to more than 50 markets’. Wrzesinski cites ‘unpredictable external factors’ as posing challenges to the smooth navigation of the company through its legal risk profile, some relevant examples including ‘a financial crisis in Russia, Ukraine and Greece, failed attempt of political coup in Turkey with its subsequent repercussions, Brexit and unexpected regulatory changes’. Despite these challenges, Wrzesinski believes that ‘international law, cross-border projects, comparative analysis [and] finding tailored legal solutions has always been of interest’ and that ‘lawyering in a global context is simply fun’. As a member of Bacardi’s core leadership team, Wrzesinski is proof that legal is viewed as a strategic partner by all front line and support functions, and he explains his view of the evolution of the in-house role as being tied to the ‘combination of deep cognitive, analytical skills in tandem with broad multidisciplinary and social skills’. He adds that to succeed: ‘In-house counsel must be ready to successfully navigate a host of non-legal roles, including being a senior executive, active leader and strategist, guardian of integrity and reputation, compliance office, diplomat, project manager, external affairs adviser, decision making analyst or crisis manager. Simultaneously, of course, one should never forget its core function as legal counsel and defendant of company’s assets and interests’.