Tatsiana Zaretskaya was going to speak at a major conference in Saudi Arabia, but then disappeared from the schedule
She insists that she is participating in the conference.
One of the world's largest technology conferences, LEAP 2026, is taking place from August 31 to September 3 in Saudi Arabia, at the exhibition center in Malham near Riyadh. The event's website lists over a thousand speakers, 1800 technology brands, and about 200,000 participants.
Zaretskaya was presented there as the founder and general partner of the venture fund Terra Cognita Ventures. She was supposed to speak in two investment sessions.
The first — "Capital Meets Climate: Scaling the Energy Transition" — was scheduled for August 31. Investors were to discuss which climate technologies are attracting funds today and how Saudi Arabia can become a platform for developing such projects.
The second session, "LP-GP Quickfire," is scheduled for September 1. In this session, venture fund managers will be given five minutes each to present their investment strategy.
Zaretskaya was indeed initially on the program. Her personal page is still preserved in search results, where she is listed as a LEAP speaker and a representative of Terra Cognita Ventures. The search engine also retained mentions of her participation in both sessions.
Now, Zaretskaya's personal page on the conference website returns a 404 error. And in the discussion on climate investments, only four participants are listed; her name is absent. Zaretskaya is also not in the updated lineup for LP-GP Quickfire.
Belarusian activist in Cyprus, Alesia Parkhomenka, stated on Facebook that this was preceded by an appeal from Belarusians to the conference organizers. After this, Zaretskaya's name disappeared from the schedule.
"Nasha Niva" reached out to Zaretskaya for comment.
"If you're asking about LEAP, I am here and participating. I have no other conferences scheduled," she replied.
We clarified why her name disappeared from the website, and whether she would still speak or only attend the event as a visitor. Zaretskaya did not answer these questions.
In 2022, Tatsiana Zaretskaya served as the representative of the United Transitional Cabinet for Finance and Economy for less than two months. She resigned from the position, explaining it by threats directed at herself, relatives, employees, and partners. Her resignation coincided with the publication of "Nasha Niva's" investigation, which questioned her claims about the success of the startup Laava Tech.
In 2026, it became known that the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) had already launched an investigation in 2024 into possible fraud involving European subsidies received by Laava Tech. The project was allocated about 2.4 million euros for the development of energy-efficient technologies for agriculture.
According to the case materials, the investigation estimates the potential damage to the European Union at almost 450,000 euros. Brussels demanded the return of more than two million euros in grant funds. An Estonian court also froze money in Zaretskaya's accounts and restricted the disposal of her shares in companies.
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