Arina Nikolskaya is the owner of Nomad Bar Show, the creator of the SHIFT project, and Academy Chair for Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Baltics for The World’s 50 Best Bars. A leading figure in Eastern Europe’s hospitality scene, Arina relocated to Kazakhstan in 2022 after discontinuing the Moscow Bar Show. There, she established the Nomad Bar Show, which attracts professionals from across Central Asia. In 2023, she launched SHIFT, a project designed to promote local bartending communities and foster intercultural exchange in regions with limited international exposure. SHIFT aims to support emerging communities by providing equal opportunities for bartenders, regardless of their location or the availability of specific brands in their markets. SHIFT is a fully non-profit organisation, with its members personally selected by the project’s creators.