Net Zero Economy

Assoc. Prof. Manyu Moravenov, Ph.D., MRICS

Chairman of Green Finance & Energy Centre, Chief Executive Director of Bulgarian Stock Exchange

Assoc. Prof. Manyu Moravenov, Ph.D., MRICS is Member of the Board and CEO of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. Ha has nearly 25 years of experience in the field of finance and investment, real estate and capital markets. Prior to joining BSE he held a number of management positions in institutions and non-governmental organizations on the Bulgarian capital and investment market, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (now Financial Supervision Commission), working groups at the Ministry of Finance, the BSE, the Special Investment Purpose Companies Association, the Bulgarian Association of Licensed Investment Intermediaries, the National Corporate Governance Committee and others. In the recent years, Mr. Moravenov, has been actively involved in managing the credit portfolio and creditworthiness of companies, as well as managing the processes of various sources of financing such as corporate loans and bank financing, bond issuance, IPOs and equity financing.
Assoc. Prof. Manyu Moravenov is a Chairman of Green Centre – think tank for sustainable finance and energy, founded on the initiative of Bulgarian Stock Exchange and Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange.
Assoc. Prof. Manyu Moravenov is a longtime lecturer in the University of Finance, Business
and Entrepreneurship. He holds Ph.D. in Finance, Credit and Insurance from the Sofia
University "St. Kliment Ohridski" and Master's degree in Economics and Informatics from the
University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria.

David Moran

COP26 Regional Ambassador: Europe, Central Asia, Turkey and Iran

David Moran was appointed as COP26 Regional Ambassador for Europe, Central Asia, Turkey and Iran in May 2021. David joined the FCO (now FCDO) in 1985 and has previously served as Ambassador to Switzerland, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and as Ambassador (non-resident) to Liechtenstein and the Kyrgyz Republic.He was also posted to Nairobi, Moscow, Paris (at the OECD), Tbilisi and Yerevan (in both cases as Chargé d’Affaires with the personal rank of Ambassador). He has worked in a wide range of policy and other roles in London, including as Head of the FCO’s Global Economic Issues Department and Cabinet Office Deputy Director for Early Warning and Transnational Issues, covering climate change, energy and economics. Before joining the UK Civil Service he worked for the State of Oregon and as a professional blues pianist.

Ulf Gehrckens

Senior Vice President Corporate Energy & Climate Affairs Aurubis Group

Ulf Gehrckens joined the company "Norddeutsche Affinerie" on January 1st 1984. He was appointed аs Manager of the Procurement Department and at the same time Managing Director of the company "Hüttenbaugesellschaft" in 1993.Since March 1st,2004 he worked as Director of Central Services and since 2005 he had been member of the Board of Pension Fund "Norddeutsche Affinerie" (today Aurubis).After acquisition of the company "Cumerio" in 2008, Ulf Gehrckens was put in charge of the entire European activities in the energy and climate sector..Ulf Gehrckens graduated in economics at the Hamburg School of Business Administration.

Neli Angelova

Nestlé Communications Manager for Southeast Market

Yuri Katanov

Executive Director of Toki Power and Member of the Board of Directors of Solarpro Holding

He has over 15 years of experience in the field of corporate finance, structuring and financing of operations and management and implementation of investment projects in various sectors, including energy. He has held various management roles and participated in some of the most significant renewable energy projects in Southeast Europe. As the Executive Director of TOKI, he works actively for the transformation of the energy industry in the region, both in terms of digitalization and modernization of services, and for the transition from carbon to sustainable energy business.

Silvio Thiede

Managing Director Bulgaria, Greece and Albania, HeidelbergCement Group

Silvio Thiede is appointed as Managing Director Bulgaria, Greece and Albania, HeidelbergCement Group as of August 2nd, 2019. He has extensive experience in building materials production in different countries. Mr. Thiede had been working as General Manager of TBG Romania Beton Group SRL (Romania), Development Manager of Carpatcement (Romania), Head of IT Department Central Europe Region of HeidelbergCement Group, General Manager of Northwest Region and General Manager of CESLA Cement Plant, HeidelbergCement Russia. Before the assignment to the position of Managing Director Bulgaria, Greece and Albania, Silvio Thiede has been working for HeidelbergCement Ukraine as General Manager.
He was born on March 11, 1969 in Pasewalk, Germany. He graduated from Technical University and University of Applied Sciences in Dresden, Germany with Master's degree in Construction and Mobile equipment. Mr. Thiede holds a Master of Business Administration, Asebuss Executive Program, Bucharest Romania and American Executive MBA Certificate from Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, USA.

David Hone

Chief Climate Change Adviser Shell International Ltd.

David Hone works for Shell International Ltd. and is the Chief Climate Change Adviser in the Shell Scenarios team.
He joined Shell in 1980 after graduating as a Chemical Engineer from the University of Adelaide in South Australia. He initially worked for Shell as a refinery engineer in Australia and The Netherlands, before becoming the supply economist at the Shell refinery in Sydney. In 1989 David transferred to London to work as an oil trader in Shell Trading and held a number of senior positions in that organisation until 2001.  In that year David took up the role of Group Climate Change Adviser.
David was Chairman of the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) from 2011-2013, a global business organisation of some 140 companies and remains a Board member. The Association focuses on the development of carbon markets. He is also on the Board of the Washington based Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) and the Board of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute (GCCSI) in Melbourne, Australia.
David posts regular stories on his energy & climate change blog, which can be found at http://blogs.shell.com/. He is the author of a 2017 book on climate change, ‘Putting the Genie Back: Solving the Climate and Energy Dilemma’.

Klaus Rainer Kirchhoff

Chairman of Kirchhoff Consult AG

Klaus Rainer Kirchhoff is a Chairman of Kirchhoff Consult AG, founded in 1994. Kirchhoff Consult AG is the leading Investor Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility and IPO consulting firm in the German speaking part of Europe, operating with around 60 employees from offices in Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Vienna with the experience of 72 successful IPOs, among those 16 from emerging markets (China, Israel).
Klaus Rainer Kirchhoff has been a consultant in Investor Relations, ESG/Corporate Social Responsibility, and Capital Markets since 1989.
He studied law at the University of Hamburg. He was a research assistant at the Institute for Integrations Research at the Europa-Kolleg before becoming assistant to the chairman of the board of a medium-sized company. Since 1988, he has practiced as a lawyer. In 1994, he became the founder of his own company Kirchhoff Consult.
He initiates the regular "Good Company Ranking", editor of numerous publications, and is a sought-after speaker at home and abroad. Klaus Rainer Kirchhoff is an Honorary Consul General of Romania in the five northern German states.

Francois Debergh

Country Director for Bulgaria, Veolia

Francois Debergh has a broad knowledge in the design and operations of environmental services. His main focus is to accelerate the deployment of tailor-made solutions for industrial, commercial and municipal customers emphasizing on innovative and sustainable models, energy efficiency and circular economy.
He joined Veolia in 1997 and is currently the Country Director for Bulgaria, Veolia. With an experience of over 20 years in Central and Eastern Europe, he is leading the regional teams to run the local operations of Veolia and set the path for a sustainable development of three countries.
Francois is a seasoned entrepreneur with a strong appetite for development enjoying a rich experience in the management of small and medium-sized enterprises as well as large businesses. During his career, mostly as country or regional director, he had the chance to create and run businesses through the different steps of a company lifecycle.
Leveraging on the Veolia Group vast expertise and the experience of Veolia Central and Eastern Europe Zone, Francois is aiming together with his teams, to establish the company as a regional leader in the management of water, energy and waste resources.

Georgi Stoeff

Co-founder and chairman of Trakia Tech

Georgi Stoeff is a co-founder and chairman of Trakia Tech - a think tank for digitalization of industry and co-organizer of the Annual Business Forum Industry 4.0. Mr. Stoeff is a trained economist at the University of Leuven, and is one of the best recognized macroeconomic analysts in the country. Based in Plovdiv, he is a strategic consultant for the one of the largest constellation of industrial and tech parks in CEE - Trakia Economic Zone. His team developed the economic profiles and investor presentations for the some of the main cities in Bulgaria.
 

Radoslav Koshkov

General Manager Schneider Electric for Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo

Radoslav Koshkov is Schneider Electric's General Manager for Bulgaria, Albania, North Macedonia and Kosovo. In addition to his long career at Schneider Electric, he has undergone numerous trainings, including leadership academies, as well as trainings developing skills for creating and managing effective teams, sales and distribution channel management, marketing innovations and leadership skills. He has a master's degree from the Faculty of French Electrical Engineering at the Technical University of Sofia, as well as a professional certificate in Management from Open University (UK) from their partnership program with New Bulgarian University and level 3 in the INSEAD Leadership Program.
 

Vassil Tzanev

Executive Director of ZMM Bulgaria Holding AD

Vassil Tzanev graduated from the Technical University - Sofia with a Master degree in Electronics. He has professional experience in both Bulgarian and international markets. Before joining the team of ZMM Bulgaria, he was a Executive Director of Daisy Technology, and in recent years Director of Industrial Cranes and a member of the Board of Directors of Podemcrane AD.
 

Borislav Bangeev

Chief risk officer and Member of the Management board of UniCredit Bulbank

Borislav started his career in the Bank as a retail monitoring manager in Risk Division after an internship in Consumer loans and Product Development departments. From October 2007 until May 2010 he was Manager credit policy, products and procedures in UniCredit Bulbank. Then he started his international career in UniCredit S.p.A. as business manager in FIBS & Trading Credit Risk in Munich, Germany, where he supported the implementation of the groupwide centralized approach in credit risk management of this portfolio.
In May 2012 he became a vice president and business and change manager in Group Trading Risk in Milan Italy, gaining valuable experience in market risk through the project of the implementation of the group internal models for market risk and counterparty credit risk. In September 2013 he returned to FIBS Underwriting, consolidating his expertise and taking gradual managerial positions as Head of Home Markets Desk and since March 2016 – first vice president and Head of FIBS Underwriting.  In October 2017 he became Global Head of FIBS Credit Transactions, leading a team of more than 100 professionals across three hubs of the Group, responsible for the underwriting, monitoring and special credit management of this important segment of institutional clients.
Borislav has a master degree in finance and banking from the University of Sofia.

Slavtcho Neykov

Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Energy Management Institute

Slavtcho Neykov has almost 30 years non-interrupted experience in the energy sector, including as Secretary General of the Bulgarian Ministry of Energy, Commissioner in the State Energy Regulatory Commission, expert at the Energy Charter Secretariat in Brussels and a Director of the Energy Community Secretariat in Vienna. Throughout the years, his involvement in the energy field has been linked to international and EU energy law, energy diplomacy and energy policy matters at national, regional and EU level. He was the leader of the Bulgarian negotiation team on Chapter 14 "Energy" during the Bulgarian accession to the EU.
Prior to his involvement in the energy sector, he has worked as a state prosecutor and a legal advisor. 
His university level education in Bulgaria includes a law degree and two years postgraduate studies on international economic relations and foreign economic activities. He also holds Master of Arts in European Integration from the University of Limerick in Ireland.
Since the end of 2014, Mr. Neykov acts as a Chairman of the Board of Managers of the Energy Management Institute (www.emi-bg.com ).
Mr. Neykov is a member of the Board of Directors of EURELECTRIC. He is also a member of the National Consultative Committee of the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute.

Maxfield Weiss

Executive Director, CDP Europe

Maxfield leads all CDP’s activities in Europe as Executive Director to drive environmental disclosure, insight and action among companies, financial institutions and local governments, and manages the CDP Europe team and operations. Prior to this role, he held the position of Director Corporate Engagement at CDP Europe, and was previously Vice President of Insights for CDP North America, leading intersectional research and impact work for all CDP stakeholders. Outside CDP, Maxfield oversaw the environmental supply chain responsibility program at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), creating the world’s first supply chain management program based on climate science, leading to his recognition on the 2018 Environmental Leader 75 list of elite environmental managers. He was also an international regulatory policy analyst for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Maxfield graduated from Columbia University with a Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science & Policy and a dual Bachelor of Science in Conservation Resource Studies as well as Society and the Environment from the University of California, Berkeley.

Eng. Plamen Panchev

Executive director and founder of Thrace Economic Zone /TIZ/, and chairman of "Cluster Thrace Economic Zone"

Kristian Ruby

Secretary General Union of the Electricity Industry - Eurelectric

Kristian Ruby is a widely recognised expert with a strong communication profile andextensive experience in political affairs. He joined Eurelectric from Wind Europe,where he served as Chief Policy Officer and was in charge of development andimplementation of the political strategy.Prior to this, Ruby worked as a journalist and served seven years as a public servant inthe Danish Ministries of Environment, and Climate and Energy and in the EuropeanCommission in the cabinet of the former Climate Action chief, Connie Hedegaard.Kristian holds a master degree in history and international development.

Tsvetelina Penkova

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament

Tsvetelina Marinova Penkova is a Bulgarian politician who has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since the 2019 elections.
In parliament, Penkova has since been serving on the Committee on Budgetary Control, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the Committee on Regional Development.
In addition to her committee assignments, she is part of the parliament's delegation to the EU-Serbia Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee. She is also a member of the European Internet Forum. 

Albena Markova

Partner Consulting Services PwC

Albena Markova is a partner in PwC for the last 13 years and leads the Consulting services practice in South East Europe, including Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia. North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Montenegro.  She has close to 25 years of experience in the area of professional services and during that period she has worked with some of the biggest and most successful companies in the region from different industries, as well as with a number of public sector institutions.  Her expertise is in strategic and management consulting with a focus on organizational and business transformations, strategies for growth and entrance in new markets and segments, post-M&A integration, market and investment feasibility studies, financial analysis and due diligence, change management.
Albena Markova is a co-author of the book "Success Formulas in the New Decade", published in 2012, in which she studies the growth strategies and market positioning of a number of leading market players in the region.  She is also the leading author, already for a sixth consecutive year, of the Bulgarian edition of the PwC Global CEO Survey.

Anton Dimitrov

Network Operations Director, DHL Express Bulgaria

Anton Dimitrov is Network Operations Director at DHL Express Bulgaria. During his 15 years with the company he has held various managerial positions and is currently responsible for the full operations cycle related to the processing of inbound and outbound shipments, ground and airside operations, security and customs processing, management certification, environmental and energy efficiency. His desire to continuously improve customer experience on one hand and employee working conditions on the other, leads to the successful implementation of a number of projects in Bulgaria, such as the relocation of logistics centers, digitalization and automation of processes, sustainable development and deployment of green solutions in DHL Express fleet and facilities.

Teodor Radonov

Head of the EIB Group office in Bulgaria

Teodor Radonov is Head of the EIB Group office in Bulgaria since March 2021. Structured finance specialist with over 8 years of previous experience working for the European Investment Fund (EIF), dealing with securitization and guarantee products, covering a wide range of jurisdictions inside and outside the EU. He has been involved in the structuring and implementation of a number of the EIF financial instruments in Bulgaria. He also worked in a variety of analytical roles in the financial field.
He is fluent in English, French and Spanish and holds a degree in finance from the University of Sophia Antipolis in France.
 

Kalin Peshov

Member of the Supervisory Board, General manager of Glavbolgarstroy Holding AD

Juerg Burkhalter

General Manager - Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria

Juerg Burkhalter joins Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company Switzerland in 2005 in different commercial roles before taking over the role of Sales Director in 2013. In 2018 he is appointed General Manager for Coca-Cola HBC Bulgaria after being Sales Director for Coca-Cola HBC Serbia & Montenegro for two years. He holds a Master’s Degree from University of St. Gallen in Switzerland.
 

Dilyana Yakova

Manager "Regulatory Affairs and Sustainable Development", Philip Morris Bulgaria

Dilyana has more than 12 years of professional experience in the corporate world. She began her career at the Ministry of Education and Science, where she worked for 4 years as a legal counselor and then moved to the corporate world working for the consulting company KPMG. Her current role at Philip Morris Bulgaria involves in-depth analysis and implementation of policies and regulations concerning the company’s business in Bulgaria, as well as developing and execution of PMI’s sustainability initiatives at local level. She believes in Philip Morris International’s transformation and in implementing the ambitious global sustainability programs which are in line with the local footprint of the company, so that they are both meaningful and locally impactful.
Dilyana has a master's degree in law from Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" and has graduated MBA from the Central European University in Budapest.

Aleksandra Binkowska

Founder and CEO Hydrogen Utopia

Jens Rasmussen

CEO of Eurowind Energy

Jens Rasmussen is CEO of Eurowind Energy, which develops and operates wind and solar parks throughout Europe. Jens Rasmussen founded Eurowind Energy in 2006 together with his brother, Søren Rasmussen and Jakob Kirkegaard Kortbæk. Jens Rasmussen is part of Wind Denmark's executive committee and also holds several board positions in the financial sector. Jens Rasmussen is a trained electrician and has supplemented his education with various management courses, including the Academy of Finance's board education.
 
 

Julian Popov

Fellow of the European Climate Foundation

Julian Popov is Fellow of the European Climate Foundation, Chairman of the Building Performance Institute Europe and Former Minister of Environment of Bulgaria. He was the good will Bulgarian Ambassador for energy and climate policy and energy security adviser to the President of Bulgaria. Julian is member of the European Council of Foreign Relations, the Advisory Board of Climate KIC and the boards of several other energy and climate related organisations. He is the founding Vice Chancellor and current Board Member of the New Bulgarian University and cofounder of the Tunisian School of Politics. Julian was voted as one of the 40 most influential voices on European energy policies (N24) and also as one of the 40 most influential voices in the European energy efficiency policies (N25) by EurActiv. His articles on European and energy policy have been published by Financial Times, Project Syndicate, NS Energy Monitor, The Independent, Al Jazeera, Huffington Post, EurActive and others. He is author of two books and co-author of the books The European Supergrid and Energy and Climate Diplomacy. He lives in London with his family.
 

Marcel van der Hoek

Local Business Area Manager, Electrification, Balkans Region, ABB

Marcel van der Hoek has been part of the ABB team since 1994 and has held a number of managerial positions in the company. From 1994 to 2005, Mr. van der Hoek worked in vari-ous positions in several countries in the field of general management, sales and business development. In 2005 he joined the ABB Bulgaria team and led the Low Voltage Products division, including the company's factory in Petrich. In 2011, Mr. van der Hoek joined ABB Slovakia as a Country Managing Director and successfully led the company for over six years. From the beginning of 2018 till the end of 2020, he took on the role of Country Man-aging Director of ABB Bulgaria, contributing to the significant development of the com-pany in the country. Since the end of 2020, he has held the positions of Local Business Area Manager of the ABB Electrification business area for the Balkan Region, as well as Country Managing Director of ABB Croatia.

Elodie Perret

Special advisor - Hydrogen, EDF

As a major player in energy transition, EDF Group (Electricité de France) is a world leader in low-carbon energy with a diverse production mix mainly based on nuclear and renewable energy. EDF’s raison d’être is to build a net zero energy future with electricity and innovative solutions and services, while driving well-being and economic development.
Elodie Perret has thirteen years of professional experience in energy and climate policies. She started her career in 2008 working for the French Renewable energy Association especially on onshore and offshore wind. In 2012, she joined EDF Renewables in France, a subsidiary of EDF, which develops, builds and operates onshore, offshore wind and solar power plants in 20 countries (14 GW) and worked for the public consultation and permitting process for the first three offshore wind projects in France (Fécamp, Courseulles-sur-Mer et Saint-Nazaire). In 2016 she became Head of public affairs for EDF Renewables in France. In June 2021, she was appointed Special Advisor for Hydrogen for the EDF Group.
She holds a Master degree in European Studies from the Institute of political science of Aix-en-Provence and a Master Degree in European market (Université Paris Sud).

Ema Popova

Sales Manager, Public Sector CEE Multi-Country at Microsoft

Ema Popova has +20 years of experience in the field of IT across different industry segments and geographical regions. She has proven track records and experience in Solutions Sales, Management, Strategic planning, Transformational projects, Brand Management, Go-to-market Strategy.
She is passionate about digital transformation and cultural growth through the technology, the way how cloud and tech leaders blend in empowering organizations to be more competitive, supporting economic growth and improving people's lives.Current role of is Sales Manager Public Sector Multicounty region, covering 24 countries, managing the high-performance team which supports Enterprise Government Customers and SOE Enterprises to achieve more trough their journey from Analog and Transactional maturity models to Intelligent Government

Elitsa Panayotova

Coordinator of "SOfiaGREEN" project at Sofia Municipality

Elitsa Panayotova is an architect and urban planner and the coordinator of SOfiaGREEN project at Sofia Municipality. The main focus of the team is related to smarter and sustainable urban mobility and reducing traffic emissions and air pollution. This year Sofia was among the four finalists for the  European Green Capital Award 2023, organised by the European Commission, which recognized the progress of the city and the active involvement of its citizens in the process of making the city greener and more sustainable.
Before joining SOfia GREEN, Elitsa Panayotova was the driving force behind the first Science and Technology Park in Bulgaria - Sofia Tech Park. She was also the GM of the Business Park Sofia - the first office park in SEE, on which masterpan and first buildings Elitsa worked as an architect earlier in her career. She has also done investment management and consulting for various city and urban development projects.

Venelin Petkov

Journalist

Venelin Petkov is a Bulgarian journalist known to the audience as a primetime news anchor with bTV Media Group (2000 – 2014) and the Director of News, Current Affairs and Sports with the same company (2014 - 2020).
He is also known as the author or producer of more than 40 factual documentaries under the brand bTV Documents. Some of the most popular films he produced have explored the criminal overdevelopment of Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts, the smuggling of antiquities and the Bulgarian government’s campaign against ethnic Turks in the 1980s.
Venelin Petkov’s documentary A Journey across Afghanistan: Opium and Roses received the distinguished Peabody Award for excellence in broadcast journalism in 2008. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzKV20Y5Als).
Venelin Petkov holds a Master of Arts Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Missouri – Columbia (1998) and a Master of Arts Degree in English Philology (English-American Studies) from St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia (1996).
He began his career in journalism in 1994 as a reporter for Bulgaria’s national wire service (the BTA).
He worked as an associate producer/writer for CNN International in Atlanta between 1997 and 1999.
Between 1999 and 2000 he worked as a reporter and morning news anchor for Bulgaria’s state owned TV station BNT-1.

Dimitar Enchev

Managing partner, PostScriptum; Cofounder, CWP Global

Entrepreneur & investment manager with extensive experience (~15 years) in the energy transition space. Responsible for the development of several large-scale projects and companies in wind, solar, battery storage, green hydrogen, etc., and a number of venture capital investments in the energy and tech space. Cofounder of CWP Global, which has over 1.5GW of renewable energy realized and $4billion of financing raised and is one of the world’s leading developers of ultra-large-scale hydrogen projects.