Banking Relationships - For this amount of money in emerging economies, a bank loan (or other form of debt) is your best option. There may be some private equity funds with an eastern european outlook. I may also be able to connect you to some investors, send me a message to tell me more.
Where? The world is a big place. Short answer, conferences are not that useful unless you are on a panel/speaking etc. Recommend you focus on building grass roots. Conferences can be a part of it, but how you do conferences matters, otherwise is an expensive use of cash.