Ben Remfrey MBE, MI Exp. E, IMCSE
Managing Director and Founder of Praedium Consulting Malta (PCM) Ltd
Ben is the Managing Director of Praedium Consulting Malta (PCM) Ltd and MAT Kosovo’s EOD & ERW Training Establishment. Ben, having founded the Mines Awareness Trust (MAT) in 1999, has been in the EOD & Mine Action Industry for 25+ years. During this period Ben has been at the forefront of an evolving industry, leading innovative projects from the front with his boots firmly on the ground, often in hazardous regions globally. Ben’s vision of improving standards and focusing on training excellence has resulted in the growing reputation of the Kosovo based EOD & ERW Training Establishment, a valued member of the PCM Group of Companies. Having been awarded the MBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and being made a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary Club International for the work of the lifesaving work of the organisations he has led. Ben was a former NCO in the British Army’s Royal Engineers, spending much of his service with 59 Independent Commando Squadron RE.
Email:ben@pcm-erw.com
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Dr. Karl Strobl, FRSA, IMCSE
Chief Operations Officer and founding partner
Karl is a board member of PCM overseeing finance, operations, HR, contract management, and IP and data protection. He is also a professional, activist investor with 20+ years of experience. In Malta he also serves as risk manager for financial institutions and as an advisory board member of the stock exchange. He lectures at the University of Malta and at the Malta Stock Exchange Institute.
Before co-founding PCM, he was a member of the executive committee of Deutsche Bank’s Asset Management division (now DWS), a firm with EUR 600bn of client assets under management. There he served as Global Head of Equity Trading and built and headed both the Global Structured Products and the Retirement Solutions businesses. Before then, he was global head of exotic products trading at ABN AMRO Bank, and a lecturer in the fields of particle physics and cosmology at Sussex University. He holds a PhD in applied mathematics and theoretical physics from Cambridge University.
He attended and passed our own IMAS EOD L2 course in 2015, and qualified as an IMAD EOD Level 3 technical operator in 2019.
Email: karl@pcm-erw.com
Zenun (Nunni) Hoti
Assistant Instructor
Nuni first started his HMA career with Norwegians Peoples Aid (NPA) in July 1999 until Dec 2001 as a de-mining team member and successfully supported de-mining programs in Western Kosovo working alongside Gerba.
In July 2003 he joined the MAT Kosovo survey program in Kosovo as a survey/de-miner/BAC team member. Whilst employed by MAT Kosovo he has completed his EOD Level 2 field operator course. Nuni has many years of field experience holding an unblemished record and is seen as the consummate professional.
After PCM took over the running of MAT Kosovo, Nuni rejoined the MAT Kosovo team as an assistant Instructor and Driver and continues to provide support and add value to the cadre of staff delivering training within the HMA arena.
Burim Kotori
Medical Coordinator and Medical Instructor
Burim is an active medical doctor and a specialist in Human Ecology, with profound knowledge and experience in trauma treatment and medical procedures related to mine action. In addition to his medical experience, Burim is an IMAS Level 3 certified operator responsible for coordinating, managing, conducting and training for first aid and casualty evacuation, essential field medics in de-mining and BAC programs.
Burim is a specialist in environmental pollution and its impact on public health, and worked on prevention and risk management measures for the public health agencies in Kosovo. Burim was responsible for assessing the medical capacity of the Kosovo Security Force’s (KSF) de-mining/ EOD teams, conducting EOD training and casualty evacuation simulation training on multiple occasions. Burim was the Medical co-coordinator responsible for ensuring all medical requirements met IMAS standards for the entire Kosovo de-mining and BAC programme. He managed and monitored two medical teams consisting of 6 designated medical staff.
Burim speaks Albanian, English, and Croatian and translates medical and technical text and provides ‘live’ interpretation during training courses
Jamie ‘Jay’ Buyers
IEDD/EOD Consultant
Jamie is a former British Army Ammunition Technician and Improvised Explosive Device Disposal specialist. He joined PCM in November 2023 as the IEDD SME to develop the IEDD capability of the company. During his time in the military, he has served operationally all over the world in theatres including Iraq, Afghanistan, Oman, Kosovo, and Northern Ireland in the IEDD role, as well as providing EOD support as the Assault Improvised Explosive Device Operator to the UK Special Forces and Police Tactical Firearms Units. Since leaving the military in 2016, Jamie has been involved in the MINSUMA UN Peacekeeping Mission in Mali as an IEDD mentor and instructor, as well as training Special Forces Units within the Middle East in the discipline of Assault IEDD.
Hailing from Scotland, Jamie is a keen golfer and mountain biker who enjoys being outdoors as well as spending time with his family and two dogs.
Stuart ‘Stu’ Burgess
EOD HMA Instructor
Stuart served as a Royal Air Force Armourer for 22 years.
He worked 16 years as an EOD Operator. During this time, he was a valuable member of RAF Unit Teams and 5131 Bomb Disposal Squadron, with deployments in locations including the Falkland Islands, Germany, the United States, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Since joining MAT Kosovo (PCM), Stuart has been deployed various times. His recent deployments include teaching programs in Ukraine, Montenegro, and various Balkan nations.
Peter Le Sueur OBE, IMCSE
Advanced EOD instructor & Guided Weapons and Air-Dropped Weapons SME
Peter is a highly trained and experienced EOD Operator and Ammunition Technician having served a total of 14 years in three different armies (British Army 1971-77, Sultan’s Armed Forces 1977-80, and SADF 1981-86).
Peter has since acquired 32 years of experience in humanitarian mine action, having worked in 15 countries in Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and in Central Asia.
He has an extensive background in specialist areas such as the disposal of Air Dropped Weapons, Large-Scale demolitions, Former Soviet Union LSA, and Guided Missiles. He has extensive experience as both a “hands-on“ EOD Operator/Team Leader and as an EOD Instructor.
In addition to EOD skills, Peter has practical experience in PSSM (Physical Stockpile Security Management) of SALW (Small Arms and Light Weapons) and has been a Chief Instructor on PSSM courses in Libya.
Peter was awarded the OBE in 2004 for “services to mine action in Afghanistan”.
Christopher Warner Rennick
SME Instructor
Chris is a former British and Rhodesian Army Ammunition Technician and Special Forces senior NCO with a master’s degree in Law from the London School of Economics. Chris has operational experience in Northern Ireland, Rhodesia, Mozambique and Uganda and over 30 years’ in the commercial EOD/ IED and Mine Action arena in Kuwait, Zimbabwe, Qatar, Montenegro, Kurdistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sudan, Mali and Tajikistan.
Chris has extensive instructional experience, which includes working as a contract officer in Uganda [with the rank of Major] training the Ugandan Police Special Forces, firearms training for the Greek Police and Special Forces, EOD/IED training supplied to UN troops, lecturing law at the University of Hertfordshire, teaching English as a second language and coaching Jujitsu.
Chris is also a Prince 2 qualified Project manager.
Artur Tigani, IMCSE
Head of R&D and T&E / HMA Instructor
Artur Tigani is a highly trained and experienced Mine Action Operations Officer at both Programme Development & Delivery of all aspects of de-mining, battle area clearance and EOD training. Artur’s experience stems from service in the former Yugoslav Army (1982-1984) with the Engineers. He has been deployed in operational roles in Kosovo, Sri Lanka, Uganda, DRC, Rwanda, Kenya, and EOD operators’ training missions in Syria, and Iraq.
Artur has over 19 years’ industry & commercial experience, gained within a multi-national environment. Working on programmes in multi-disciplined government, commercial and NGO organisations. An extensive background in specialist areas of HMA such as Task Planning, Technical Survey and IMSMA database work.
Hidaverdi (Gerba) Topalli
Instructor
Gerba is a highly experienced de-miner with decades of clearance experience in survey, de-mining and Battle Area Clearance (BAC). Since 1999 he has worked industriously to clear the legacy of explosive remnants of war (ERW) in Kosovo. His HMA career began with NPA as a deputy team leader in 1999. In 2002 he was a de-miner and BAC clearance operator for Handicap International. He has been with MAT Kosovo since 2003, initially as part of the survey team, and as BAC team leader.
Gerba is highly regarded in the EOD industry for his talent in identifying and disposing of items which elude other experienced professionals. He is a living legend in the Kosovo de-mining community.
During his time with MAT Kosovo, he has completed further training and courses achieving IMAS level 3 team leader (TL) status.
Harry Remfrey
Assistant Instructor
Harry was the first apprentice and ‘test case’ in our new apprenticeship scheme. During his first year at the school, he was heavily involved in training support and student liaison, gaining experience in equipment maintenance and general duties.
In early 2024, he completed his IMAS EOD Level 2 training, followed by his IMAS Level 3 course in October 2024. Later that year, Harry was briefly deployed on an overseas task.
He now holds the role of Assistant Instructor at MAT Kosovo.
Sonny
K9 Explosives Detection Dog
Sonny is MAT Kosovo Training Establishment’s Explosive Detection Dog (EDD). Arriving in 2018, and supplied by the UK K9 Specialist Training Company ‘Dog Detectives: http://www.dogdetectives.com/ Sonny, a Golden Labrador, originating from the United Kingdom. Sonny is trained to search and indicate on many different types of explosives, and he provides high quality search and detection support to MAT Kosovo courses. Sonny can search for explosives in open rural areas, urban areas including buildings, area routes search and the search of vehicles. Sonny is a valued member of the MAT Kosovo Team whilst being an asset for providing course support and demonstrations.
Apprentice Scheme
George
Stores & Equipment Officer
George previously worked as a storeman and is familiar with the upkeep and maintenance of equipment and stores. He began his apprenticeship at MAT Kosovo in mid-September 2024. In addition to serving as the stores officer, George also assists with training delivery as part of the training support team. He completed his IMAS EOD Level 2 Field Operator Course in February 2024 and is eager to continue his training and advancement.
Afёrdita Baloku
Manager – Facilities, Logistics and Governance – MAT Kosovo
Aferdita is the Facilities and Logistics Manager at the MAT Kosovo Training Centre in Peja. She has an extensive background in management with 15 years’ experience in administration and logistics. Aferdita has a degree in Engineering and is also multilingual, fluent in Albanian, English and Serbian. These skills were used to the full when she was employed on many high-profile projects working with ICO, UNDP/ UNOPS, IOM and International NGOs operating in Kosovo for the implementation of political and internationally funded development programs over the past 15 years. The nature of her work with programs mentioned above required a great deal of resources and logistics management where she earned a reputation for excellence.
Arben Qorraj
Manager – Visa Admin, Finance, and Government Liaison – MAT Kosovo
A professional, highly trained and experienced Admin and Logistic Officer with seventeen years’ experience in mine action. Able to coordinate and manage all the logistical and administrative requirements for multi-faceted programmes. Skills include; logistics, fleet management, recruitment, staff training and management of internal control systems.
Holder of ISO 9001 & 14001, Internal Auditor Certificate. Experienced in planning, organising and administering clearance teams in highly productive rates in often stressful environments. Maintains a professional attitude, along with a sense of humour, to achieve consistent results through well-developed communication skills and practical ability. Arben is also the man for the thankless task of making sure that visa applications for all students are processed and concluded in time for students to start their courses.
Arben Qorraj also serves as a member of the board of directors of Mine Action and Training Mondial Kosovo LLC.
Iryna Shkatula
Country Representative for Ukraine
Iryna is a country representative of PCM in Ukraine, responsible for supporting PCM’s operations rollout in Ukraine and PCM’s personnel deployed to Ukraine.
She has been working as a linguist for over a decade, primarily in the defence and security sector. In this capacity, she was contracted by UK, Canadian, and US governmental organisations operating in Ukraine and abroad. Iryna’s areas of specialisation as a linguist are military, EOD, defence, law enforcement and security, law, human rights, international relations, economics, business, and finance.
Before that, Iryna worked for a long time in the reinsurance industry for large international insurance groups, like Generali and Vienna Insurance Group. She was responsible, inter alia, for the reinsurance protection of the insurance companies’ portfolios, risk management, and organising the workflow of 25 regional branches as related to insurance data collection and presentation.
Iryna holds a Master’s degree in English and German linguistics and a Master’s degree in Economics.
She attended and passed our own IMAS EOD Level 2+ course in May 2022 as part of the first Ukrainian female group.
Emmanuel ‘Borgi’ Borg, IMCSE
HQ Admin – Group CRM, Logistics, and Credit Control
After seeing service in the Royal Australian Engineers for 12 years, and qualifying as an electrician, Borgi joined PCM in mid-2016. As part of his induction into the PCM Group he attended and passed the IMAS EOD L2 course at the MAT Kosovo EOD & ERW Training Establishment in Kosovo in 2016. Having experienced what is probably the most demanding course we deliver as a company was an important part of Borgi’s development. Therefore; who is better to advise those interested in attending our courses than Borgi! In addition, he looks after all course inquiries and the general administrative side of refining course bookings, client service and streamlining processes for PCM & MAT Kosovo to be more timely and professional in the way we deal with our clients. Borgi is also the Group International conflict observer, observing and collating information on political and security development in the countries in which we work.
Email: emmanuel@pcm-erw.com
Elena Qorraj
Group Controlling and Asset Management
An Economics graduate, Elena Qorraj is responsible for financial control for the group. Elena handles group-wide payment tracking including intercompany tracking as well as vendor management and management reporting. Elena also manages the physical inventories in Malta, Kosovo and abroad, in addition to reconciliations with statutory accounts in Malta and Kosovo. For Cadre deployments she manages equipment handover and equipment registers, during mobilization, de-mobilization, and on deployment, and she manages all the personal logistics needs of PCM cadre staff including flights, visas, hotels, and generally giving real-time support to our cadre on the move.
Elena Qorraj also serves as a member of the board of directors of Mine Action and Training Mondial Kosovo LLC.
Tringa Qorraj
Group Intellectual Property and Media
Tringa holds the position as an Associate, Group Assets and Media manager here at PCM. She studied Civil Engineering in the University of Prishtina. Before joining the PCM team she was an intern for Marigona Hill Sh.p.K. in Prishtina.
Here at PCM she is mainly responsible for IP management, supplier and competitor research, social media profiles, as well as the website. Tringa successfully completed the IMAS EOD Level 2 and IMAS EOD Level 3 Courses at MAT Kosovo Training Center.
Ismail “Smiley” Ramaj
Logistics Assistant
Zyrafete “Buqe” Hasanaj
Cook
Skender Muhaxheri
Cook
Afërdita Zeneli
Housekeeper
Marigona Vorfaj
Housekeeper
Fllanza Vorfaj
Housekeeper
Agron Belegu
Security
