The scholarship builds on a partnership between the Norwegian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce (NSHK) and the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and provides 18 months of executive MBA studies at the Stockholm School of Economics for a value of SEK 465,000. The purpose of the scholarship is to promote Norwegian-Swedish cooperation and raise skill levels among the next generation of leaders.

“Norway is one of Sweden’s largest trading partners and we hope that this scholarship will contribute to further strengthening our great relationship,” says Björn Rosengren, President, Norwegian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce.

Kristina was born in Moscow and initially moved to Sweden to pursue her Bachelor and Master degrees. She lives in Stockholm with her husband and three children. On awarding her the scholarship, the jury cited the following:

Kristina is ambitious, positive and has a strong inner drive. Identified as a “high-talent” individual, she is a change agent and comfortable interacting with all levels of the organization to achieve common goals. Kristina is open, confident and energetic, and always willing to take on the most demanding tasks, and to motivate her colleagues to meet challenges head on.

We believe that the SSE MBA program will give Kristina a solid foundation in general management and support her in realizing her full potential in current and future leadership roles. With her multi-cultural background and experience from Swedbank and other organizations, she will also contribute greatly to the program and her peers. In particular, she will be a good ambassador for Stockholm School of Economics, Swedbank and the Norwegian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce.

“I am very happy and grateful to receive the SSE MBA NSHK scholarship for the SSE Executive MBA Program 2019-2020! I am convinced that this journey will offer me many exciting opportunities that will allow me to grow both personally and professionally. I am looking forward to starting this journey with other ambitious people representing different industries and cultures. And last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and my boss, Brad McNeil, for all the help and encouragement I have received,” says Kristina Zaytseva.

“Winning the SSE scholarship is a fantastic opportunity for Kristina to continue to fast track her career development and we are extremely proud of her for this achievement. Swedbank will benefit greatly from Kristina being able to leverage the exposure and learning this MBA will deliver and bringing this back to drive strategic change within our organization,” says Brad McNeil Chief Product Owner of Swedbank’s LC&I Business Intelligence Value Stream.

The scholarship jury has consisted of Björn Rosengren, President NSHK, Caroline Bergström, Head of Revenue Optimization, SAS, Karin Wiström, Director SSE MBA, Stockholm School of Economics, and Berit Salheim, CEO, NSHK.

For further information, please contact:  


Karin Wiström, Director SSE MBA, Stockholm School of Economics, karin.wistrom@hhs.se, +46 70 651 21 43



Berit Salheim, CEO, Norwegian-Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Stockholm, berit.salheim@nshk.se, +46-70-566 26 76