Net Zero Economy Forum: Accelerating the transition

Gerard Reid

Co-founder and Partner at Alexa Capital

Gerard Reid is a Co-founder and Partner at Alexa Capital. He is focused on assisting people and organizations in the energy and mobility areas who are struggling to understand and come to terms with the unpredictable and rapid change going on around them. Gerard has developed a strong reputation as a leading global expert in the energy and mobility space. He is an avid blogger and author with a following of more than 150k across several platforms and he is the co-host to "REDEFINING ENERGY" podcast. He is also a member of the World Economic Forum Future Energy Council.

Christof Rühl

Senior Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University, New York

Christof Rühl is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, New York. He is an internationally renowned economist, specializing in macroeconomics and energy economics. His most recent commercial expertise is in energy, specifically oil and gas, and in asset allocation, focussed on global macro and geopolitical trends. He combines more than 20 years of experience in senior positions in world class companies.
From 2014-19 Christof served as Global Head of Research at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, creating and managing ADIA’s first global research team to provide economic, energy and geopolitical analysis to the Fund. Earlier, he was Group Chief Economist and Vice President of BP plc (2005-14), credited with a significant contribution to the global debate on energy, climate change, and the various links between energy and economic development. Christof joined BP from the world of global economic policy, having served at the World Bank (1998–2005) - including as the Bank’s Chief Economist in Russia and in Brazil - and at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD, 1996-98). He started his career in academia, first as a Research Associate at the Universities of Bremen and Hohenheim in Germany; and from 1991-96, as an Assistant Professor in economics at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA).
Christof has a succinct track record in business, economic policy and academia. He is published and quoted widely in his fields, is a sought after public speaker, and serves as board director and global advisor to companies in energy, banking and private equity.

Maciej Mazur

Chief Executive Officer of PSPA & Vice-President of AVERE

Maciej Mazur is a Chief Executive Officer of PSPA (Polish Alternative Fuels Association) & Vice-President of AVERE (The European Association for Electromobility).
Business practitioner with many years of experience in the energy sector. Since 2012, he has been connected with the alternative fuels industry, in particular with the electricity sector (e-mobility). He has worked, among others, on the implementation of the largest infrastructure investments in Poland and advised companies from the fuel, automotive, financial and FMCG industries.

A graduate of International Relations, specializing in International Trade Policy at the University of Warsaw. He also has an MBA diploma. In the course of preparing his PhD dissertation in Economics. Author of numerous publications in the field of energy and social communication. Speaker at many industry debates and conferences.

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.

Mariana Iteva

Industry Development Director, VEOLIA Central and Eastern Europe, Deputy Country Director, VEOLIA Bulgaria and Member of the Board of Directors of Sofiyska Voda JSC, operated by VEOLIA

Mariana Iteva works at VEOLIA, a global leader in the provision of environmental services, since the beginning of 2010. As the Industry Development Director, for Central and eastern Europe she oversees the development of projects with leading industrial companies in Veolia’s three main business lines: water, energy and waste management. Since January 2021, Mariana is also Veolia’s Deputy Country Director for Bulgaria. Mariana is a member of the Board of Directors of Sofiyska Voda JSC and former CEO of the company (2013-2014). She was also a member of the Board of Directors of Veolia’s division in Armenia – Yerevan Djur in the period 2012-2013.
Prior to joining VEOLIA, Mariana had worked in the UK water sector for over 10 years. She has worked on projects of the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the UK Department for International Development (DFID).
 

Yuri Katanov

Executive Director of KER 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.

Artem Abramov

Head of Global Energy Systems, Rystad Energy

Artem Abramov is Head of Global Energy Systems at Rystad Energy, responsible for the research and solutions covering Hydrogen, CCUS, Battery Markets and Energy Transition themes. Artem’s main areas of expertise include sustainability and decarbonization strategies with a particular focus on North American energy markets, given his previous role as head of North American oil & gas research at Rystad Energy. He holds an MSc in Financial Economics from BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo and a BSc in Applied Mathematics, majoring in statistics, from Novosibirsk State University in Russia.

Dr Gokce Mete

Senior Manager, Global Hydrogen Stakeholder Platform and Co-Lead of the Hydrogen for Net Zero Initiative at South Pole

Dr Gokce Mete is Senior Manager of Global Hydrogen Stakeholder Platform at South Pole and co-leads the Hydrogen for Net Zero Initiative (H2NZ) together with Perspectives Climate Group. H2NZ aims to unlock carbon finance for hydrogen projects by developing the first methodologies for the voluntary carbon market. She also leads the policy and advocacy efforts of South Pole in the low-carbon hydrogen space and is responsible for developing new low-carbon hydrogen business opportunities.
Gokce is co-founder of the Women in Green Hydrogen Network, author of over 30 publications, and has over a decade of policy and regulatory analysis, public affairs, project development and stakeholder management experience focused on climate change, just transition and sustainability in the energy, heavy industry and minerals sectors.
Previously she was Head of Secretariat of the UN Leadership Group for the Industry Transition hosted by the Stockholm Environment Institute which explores how policy, finance and business practices in hard-to-abate industry sectors such as steel, cement, heavy duty transport and chemicals can be aligned to achieve climate neutrality. At SEI, she also project led initiatives focusing on oil and gas transitions, green trade and green public procurement in road transport and construction sectors.

Robert Spruijt

Head Sustainable Finance EMEA (Europe, Middle East& Africa), ING bank

Robert is heading the Sustainable Finance business for ING in the EMEA  region. The Sustainable Finance team is covering sustainable lending, 
Sustainable Structured Finance, supports Debt Capital Markets on the Green/  Social & Sustainable Bonds structuring and supports the Sustainable  Investments team. 
Robert started his career in carbon trading and energy derivatives. Thereafter  he moved into renewable energy financing, where together with a local team he set up the business in India and thereafter in the wider Asia- Pacific region.  Robert joined ING in 2016 in the Energy Sector team and stepped into his  current role in 2019. 
Robert holds a MSc in Business Administration (Major: Finance & Investments)  from the Rotterdam School of Management/ Erasmus University and a BSc in  Process Engineering from the Utrecht School of Technology.

Geoffrey Mansfield

General Manager of Shell’s Global Low Carbon Fuels Trading desk

Geoffrey Mansfield is General Manager of Shell’s Global Low Carbon Fuels Trading desk. His team trades low carbon intensity fuels and tickets into the transport market (anything from first and second generation bio diesel, ethanol all the way through to waste/advanced feedstocks and efuels). His team is made up of traders, originators and regulatory advisors.
 
Geoff joined Shell in 2000 from university (where he studied physical geography) starting in the finance team supporting the newly formed Shell Trading Network. He gained his chartered accountancy and corporate Treasurer qualifications during this time. He then moved from finance onto the Trading floor in 2006 specialising in the jet and diesel market based in Singapore, London and New York. In 2013 he got his first book lead role on the global jet desk before then taking over as team lead for the European middle distillate desk in 2015. In 2019 he became General Manager of Shell’s Global Product Derivatives Trading desk before moving (briefly) as GM Gasoline and then onto Low Carbon Fuels Trading desk in Dec 2021.

Jan-Jaap Verhoeve

CCO at Plan A & Co-Founder at Greentech Alliance

Jan-Jaap is the CCO of Plan A, a Berlin-based company developing an end-to-end platform that uses machine learning and science to enable businesses to manage and improve their carbon and ESG performance. He is also the co-founder of the Greentech Alliance, a community of over 1300 startups which are connected to over 500 advisors from VC, media and business. He is a BMW Responsible Leader.
About Plan A: 
Plan A offers an award-winning and certified software for businesses for carbon accounting, carbon reduction and ESG reporting, underpinned by world-class scientific methods and technology. The product offers automated data processing for Scope 1,2,3, net-zero target setting, decarbonisation planning, sustainability regulation tracking and automated ESG and sustainability reporting.

Miki Yokoyama

Venture Partner at AENU

Miki Yokoyama is a Venture Partner at AENU, a German evergreen impact tech fund, passionately driving topics like impact investments, integrating sustainability into businesses, and creating equal opportunities. She is also a Sustainability Advisor at UnternehmerTUM, Europe's largest entrepreneurship center, and a Board Member of the Circular Economy Initiative of the German Industry. Previously, she worked for Allianz SE, the BMW Group and the Boston Consulting Group.

Radan Kanev

Member of European Parliament

Radan Kanev is a Bulgarian politician and MEP at the European People's Party (EPP) group.
Kanev is a member of the Committee on Social Policy and Employment and the Committee on Petitions, substitute of the Committee on Environmental Environment, Health Protection and Food Safety in the Parliament.
He is also a member of Urban Matters, Green New DealClimate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development and Future of Science and Technology intergroup. 

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.

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.
 

Ivan Velev

Portfolio Manager, ACT

Specializing in green energy and voluntary carbon procurement, Ivan helps organizations develop strategies to lower their scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions (GHG Protocol). In addition to expanding his portfolio of renewable energy producers and suppliers, Ivan is focused on developing business throughout the public and private sectors in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Kosovo and within the Eastern European market.

Lazar Armianov

Regional Director - Sales: Northern Europe, Middle East & Africa, EcoVadis

Lazar has over 15 years of international experience in sustainability and responsible procurement with a focus on business development across all major industry sectors including: financial services, telecoms and manufacturing. He gained his expertise during his time at CEB (now Gartner), the Carbon Trust and Sphera. Lazar has been spearheading the development of EcoVadis in the UK and Northern Europe for the past 5 years -- supporting public and private sector organisations to achieve their sustainability objectives. Lazar holds an MSc in European Politics & Governance from the London School of Economics and is fluent in English, French and is a native Bulgarian speaker.

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

Chairman of the Green Finance & Energy Centre

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.

Lilyana Pavlova

Vice-President of the European Investment Bank

Mrs Lilyana Pavlova is currently Vice-President of the European Investment Bank responsible for Cohesion policy; Advisory services; IT and data governance; Relations with the Vienna Initiative; Strategy for the Danube region. She is also responsible for the activities of the Bank in Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and the Western Balkans.
Before that Mrs Pavlova has been a Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria. In the period May 2017 – December 2018 Mrs Pavlova was Minister for the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2018. Lilyana Pavlova was Minister of Regional Development and Public Works for two mandates (2014 - January 2017 and 2011 – 2013) and a Deputy Minister in the same Ministry (2009 – 2011).
She has a long experience in the field of management of European funds and projects since 1997. In the period 2002 – 2009 she was Head of Department at Ministry of Finance, National Fund Directorate (Financial Management, Control and Certification of the Structural and Cohesion Funds of the European Union and pre-accession funds and programs).
Lilyana Pavlova has a PhD in Economics, a Master’s degree in Public Administration and European Integration and a bachelor degree in International Economic Relations. 
She is fluent in English and Russian.

Ivan Tzankov

Participant in the Green Finance & Energy Centre

Ivan Tzankov is the Managing Director of AES Bulgaria. From the beginning of Ivan’s career at AES, his commitment to the development of cleaner, reliable energy solutions in Bulgaria has produced innovative results. Ivan led AES’ efforts to build and operate two of the most modern power production system in the country – AES Galabovo TPP and the St. Nikola wind farm. Ivan’s focus on the future of energy positioned AES Bulgaria as a preferred partner in the energy sector and enabled the fruitful collaboration between the company and all of its stakeholders.

Sasha Bezuhanova

Member of the Board of Directors of the Green Finance & Energy Centre

Sasha Bezuhanova is an angel investor in sustainable startups and philanthropist with a 20-years executive business career in HP and a multi-dimensional track record of service to society.
She is the founder of MOVE.BG - non-partisan platform for collaboration in finding sustainable solutions for the state, economy and society via innovation, participation and co-creation. Sasha is the and initiator of Green Restart Coalition – collaborative network for green innovation and policy agenda and Chair of the Board of WWF CEE .
Sasha is Member of the Investment committee of European Innovation Council and Advisor in GreenTech Allience. She is also a mentor and angel investor in a number of technological and sustainability startups.
She is an Honorary Consul of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg to Bulgaria.
Sasha Bezuhanova holds an Executive Master’s Degree in International Negotiations and Policy Making from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Master's Degree in Electronics from the Technical University of Sofia, and Executive qualifications from INSEAD, Stanford and others.

Nikolay Garnev

Member of the Board of Directors of the Green Finance & Energy Centre

Nikolay Garnev is the Country Managing Partner for EY Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo – a position he has held since 2013. In addition to this role, he is also the Risk Management Leader for Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe and Central Asia
(CESA). Nikolay has more than 20 years of experience working with international and local clients in a number of countries in Southeast Europe. His areas of expertise include audit, advisory and transaction support services in many sectors, primarily banking, insurance, real
estate, and energy. He has extensive experience in the implementation of the International Financial Reporting Standards and other regulatory frameworks.

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.

Stefan Konstantinov

Senior Energy Economist - Electricity, Carbon and Natural Gas at ICIS

Stefan Konstantinov has over 17 years of energy analytics experience gained with ICIS Energy, IHS Markit, EDF Energy, Gazprom Marketing & Trading, and IPA Advisory, based in London.
Stefan has an in-depth understanding of fundamental commodity analysis, and strong expertise in supply and demand modelling, and long-term price forecasting in electricity, gas, and emissions markets, especially as part of the transition to Net Zero.
Stefan recently authored the ICIS Energy report ‘The Path to Net Zero for Eastern Europe to 2050: Implications for Electricity Sector Investors’.

Eng. Konstantin Zlatev

Executive director of ,,GBS-Plovdiv" AD, member of the board of directors of ,,Glavbolgarstroy Prefab" EAD

Miroslav Ilijevski

Managing Director of TotalEnergies Marketing Bulgaria

Miroslav is the Managing Director of TotalEnergies Marketing Bulgaria and Chairman of the company in the country. His international leadership experience is acquired mainly in France, Ex-Yugoslavian countries and Bulgaria. For more than 12 years now, he has been involved in various business development projects, in particular those related to automotive and industrial lubricants. Since early 2020, he manages the Bulgarian affiliate of TotalEnergies, with specific focus on business expansion into new energies and renewables. Besides Serbian, his mother tongue, he fluently speaks English and French language.

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.
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.

Rossen Papazov

CEO and member of the Management Board of Holcim (Bulgaria) AD

Rossen Papazov is CEO and member of the Management Board of Holcim (Bulgaria) AD since September 2020.
He was born in Sofia. He holds a Master's degree in Finance from the University of National and World Economy-Sofia and a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland. His career at Holcim began in 2000 as Business Development Manager and Assistant to the Executive Director of Holcim (Bulgaria) AD. From 2004 to 2007 he headed the company's Aggregates and RMX business. In the period 2007-2020 he held senior management positions in various companies of the Group in Europe (Belgium, Romania, Azerbaijan) and Africa (South Africa). Prior to joining LafargeHolcim, he worked for Arthur Andersen and the World Bank in Eastern Europe.
Part of Holcim Group in Bulgaria are the cement plant in the village of Beli Izvor, Vratsa region, the aggregates producers Holcim Karierni Materiali AD-Sofia, Holcim Karierni Materiali Rudinata AD and Holcim Karierni Materiali Plovdiv AD, RMX plants in Sofia and Plovdiv and Geocycle Bulgaria EOOD, dealing with the supply of alternative fuels used in the production of cement.

Albena Markova

Partner Consulting Services PwC

Albena Markova is a partner in PwC for the last 15 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.

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.
 

Vassil Tzanev

Executive Director of ZMM Bulgaria Holding EAD

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.
 

Desislava Simeonova

Sustainable Finance Program Leader and Executive Director SME Banking of UBB

Desislava Simeonova is Sustainable Finance Program Leader and Executive Director SME Banking of UBB. She holds a Master’s degree in Law. She started her professional career as a legal trainee at Sofia City Court. In 2000 she was appointed as a public enforcement agent at the State Receivables Collection Agency to the Ministry of Finance. Subsequently she also worked as a legal counsel at the Legal Directorate and an expert to the Inspectorate of that same institution. Over the period 2004 – 2008 she worked as a legal counsel at the Bulgarian National Bank, Banking Supervision Department. She joined the team of CIBANK more than 10 years ago in the Corporate Officer position. Later on she consecutively managed Legal Services and Methodology Directorate and in 2016 she was appointed SME Director, while achieving excellent results in that segment. After the acquisition of United Bulgarian Bank by the Belgian financial group KBC in 2017 Desislava Simeonova took over the function of SME Distribution Director at UBB.

Giuseppe Zammarchi

Head of ESG metrics, policies and disclosure, Unicredit

Giuseppe Zammarchi begins his career at Arthur Andersen in 1997. After 3 years he joins UniCredit’s Investor Relations team, covering relationships with institutional investors and equity analysts. Always in UniCredit, he becomes responsible for the Executive Communications and then joins the staff of the Group Chief Risk Officer, being directly responsible for the project aimed at strengthening Group’s risk culture. In 2017 he joins the Group Sustainability team that he leads starting from November of the same year. Today he is responsible for ESG Metrics, Policies and Disclosure, directly reporting to the Head of Strategy & ESG, which is in charge of supporting the top management in the definition of the Group’s impact measurement, management of policies in sensitive sectors, stakeholder management and the preparation of UniCredit’s Integrated Report and TCFD annual report.
Giuseppe Zammarchi holds a degree in Business Management from Bocconi University.

Galina Permenter

ESG Senior Advisor, Yettel

Galina is an ESG professional, and she is leading the ESG topic at Yettel, having the role of ESG Senior Advisor. Her task is to create and implement Yettel’s ambitious ESG strategy and action plan, through which the company will reduce its environmental footprint and will continue to operate in full integrity and ethics for its employees, customers, and workers in the supply chain.
Galina has more than 10 years of experience in different industries and business sustainability transformations. She has lived and worked in 5 European countries, and she spent most of her time in Brussels, being part of the Global Sustainability Team at the fashion brand C&A.  Before that, she was consulting automotive companies such as VW, BMW among others. Last year, she joined Yettel and she decided to come back to Bulgaria, together with her family. Galina is an economist and also holds a Postgraduate degree in Sustainable Business from the University of Cambridge.
"Yettel is all about balance. The balance is the cornerstone of our strategy in the upcoming years." says Galina.  ‘’Sustainable business development is the future for Yettel. A future, in which we reduce our negative impact on the environment so that we can slow down climate change. Only in this way, we can save what is the most valuable to us- our planet and the people."

Dr. eng. Emanuela Manolova

Iron-silicate Business Development Manager, Aurubis Bulgaria

Emanuela Manolova, Ph.D. works as Iron-silicate Business Development Manager at "Aurubis Bulgaria". The iron silicate fines is secondary product from the copper smelting process. It has innovative applications as a raw material at the construction sector.
Emanuela manages innovative projects related to the application of the iron silicate fines as  individual building material, following the recommendations of the European Commission for the Green Deal.
Dr. Manolova is a civil engineer and has a Ph.D degree of construction materials, products and production technologies at two universities - the University of Artois in France and the University of Architecture, Construction and Geodesy in Sofia.

Constantine Levoyannis

Head of EU Affairs at Nel Hydrogen

Constantine Levoyannis is Head of EU Affairs at Nel Hydrogen. Nel is a global, dedicated renewable hydrogen technology company, delivering optimal solutions to produce, store and distribute hydrogen from renewable energy. As the global leader in the manufacturing of electrolysers, Nel’s mission is to unlock the potential of renewables & empower generations with clean energy for-ever.
Constantine has wide experience in the energy sector and from across the developing hydrogen value chain having previously worked for Hydrogen Europe as Head of Policy and French gas infrastructure company GRTgaz as EU Public Affairs & Communications Director. Prior to that, he worked as a Director at FTI Consulting, advising clients across the energy industry and the transport sector.
Constantine also has extensive experience related to the functioning of the European Union and international organisations, having worked for five years at the European Parliament as a Policy Advisor in the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE) and also spending time at the European Council and the United Nations.
Constantine was born in London, United Kingdom (UK) and is a dual national of Greece and the UK. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law (LLB) and a Master’s degree in International Law with International Relations (LLM) from the University of Kent, Brussels School of International Studies. He is an Alumnus of the US State Department’s International Visitor’s Leadership Program on Energy Security and Foreign Policy.

Jose Saloio

CEO of BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Bulgaria

Jose Saloio is the CEO of BNP Paribas Personal Finance, SA, Bulgaria Branch. His entire career has been associated with Europe's leading consumer lending company BNP Paribas Personal Finance, part of the BNP Paribas Group, where he began working after graduating from the prestigious Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris with a degree in Information Systems.
For almost 20 years, Mr. Saloio has held various international positions such as: Manager of BNP Paribas Personal Finance in Bulgaria, Chief Operating Officer of BNP Paribas Personal Finance for Central and Eastern Europe, Regional Risk Management Director for Poland, Ukraine, China, Turkey, Serbia, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, Risk Management Manager in Romania.
 
As a manager, Jose Saloio is focused on developing innovative financial products and progressive solutions for a multi-channel approach to customers. It is also dedicated to the development of cooperation between BNP Paribas Personal Finance with fintech companies, startups, retailers and online retailers. His vision and ambition are for each client to get the best possible experience in working with the bank and to feel it as a trusted partner in various life situations.
The CEO of BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Bulgaria speaks French, Portuguese and English. He is a dedicated skier and in his free time he practices Bulgarian folk dances.

Eng. Maria Topchiyska

H&D supply chain Performance and Digital Director, Schneider Electric

Eng. Maria Topchiyska has worked for manufacturing companies from various sectors in the country and abroad and has valuable experience as an MTM and lean trainer. For several years Maria Topchiyska has been an external consultant for Schneider Electric, and for two years she has been part of the company's team as an Industrialization and Maintenance Manager. It is she who leads the process for the transformation and certification of the Plovdiv plant as Smart Factory, that was successfully finalized at the end of 2019.

Magdalena Maleeva

Co-founder & CEO Wind of Change, Founder Gorichka, Co-founder Harmonica, Climate activist

Until 2005 Magdalena was a top ranked professional tennis player, reaching as high as number 4 in the world. After her retirement from the elite sport, she dedicated her career to the things she cared the most - she co-founded Wind Of Change, a company supporting the efforts for decarbonization of different organizations, Gorichka, an NGO on a mission to raise awareness about the climate and environmental solutions, Harmonica, a B-corp producing great tasting organic food. Magdalena is also involved in tennis, as a co-owner of the Maleeva tennis club and the Maleeva tennis academy.

Xavier Marcenac

Co-founder of Nasekomo

Xavier is the co-founder of Nasekomo, a biotechnology company aiming at converting organic waste into high value animal protein for the feed industry through the use of insects, thus helping to make our planet greener, by reducing waste, gas emissions and providing more affordable ingredient to feed the growing population of our planet. Prior to Nasekomo, he has been involved in several successful venture in the BPO and service industry. Xavier holds a Master in Computer Science and MBA from INSEAD.

Stefan Spassov

CFO of SPARK and CEO of Eldrive

Stefan Spassov is the CFO of Spark Technologies (SPARK) and CEO of eMobility International (Eldrive). He leads and manages the expansion of the first electric car sharing service in Bulgaria – SPARK and the largest national charging stations infrastructure, operating under the brand Eldrive. Stefan holds a MBA degree from HULT University, London. Mr. Spassov has substantial experience in the origination, management and execution of mergers and acquisitions and is specialized in corporate finance and business development. He has previously been actively involved in the telematics business and negotiated, consulted and led the successful acquisition of EuroGPS (now Viasat Technology) by the European leader in usage-based-insurance Viasat Group.

Alex Hewitt

Chair Green Hydrogen Catapult

Tim Steppich

Founder of ClimatEU

Tim Steppich is the Founder of ClimatEU, the platform and community for the European climate-tech ecosystem - founders, investors, and jobseekers.
ClimatEU’s mission is to shift global funding and talent towards climate-tech. The company tracks all startups, investors, and jobs within the space and matches them accordingly. Before founding ClimatEU, Tim worked in Venture Capital and AI Venture Building with a focus on climate-tech.

Vesela Valcheva-McGee

Board member of the Bulgarian Green Building Council

Vesela Valcheva-McGee has extensive experience with sustainable design and construction and international certification systems. With 15 years of experience in sustainable development and green buildings, Vesela has hands-on experience with key assessment tools in the construction sector, as well as deep theoretical knowledge of sustainable business development, ESG, policy making, planning and leadership. Whilst working closely with the business sector as an espert and auditor, Vesela is also actively involved as a 'change leader' through an international network of NGOs and academic organisations.
Vesela is a former board member and chair of the USGBC in the state of Georgia, and a board member and co-founder of the USGBC, where she served as chair for 6 years. Since 2008. She is the Managing Partner of Triple Green Building Group, a sustainable building consulting, certification and training company. Triple Green is one of the first companies recognized as an authorized partner of USGBC, with a license for professional education in the international market where Vesela has conducted dozens of trainings for NGOs in Europe and Russia, as well as for leading companies such as Arup, AECOM, JLL, CBRE, Colliers and Bureau Veritas.
Vesela Valcheva-McGee holds two Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Architecture from one of the most renowned architecture schools in the United States, Savannah College of Art and Design, as well as a post-graduate diploma in Business Sustainability and Leadership from Cambridge University. She is accredited as a LEED Fellow, LEED BD+C AP, BREEAM International Assessor, DGNB auditor and EDGE auditor. Since 2021, Vesela has been awarded by the European Commission as an official ambassador of the European Climate Act.

Nayden Marechkov

Product Development Director at Mastercard

Nayden Marechkov is Product Development Director at Mastercard. He has more than 12 years of experience in the field of financial products and services. In the past 5 years he has been part of the Mastercard team, responsible for product development in Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo, supporting issuers to develop and deliver the best product proposition to end customers. In the past year and a half, leading Open Banking projects for Bulgaria. SWIfT proven experience in the fintech sector, developing commercial and consumer wallets, prepaid products and co-branded cards, and loyalty programs across different European markets. Nayden is also responsible for the sustainable products related to the Mastercard’s commitment to Net Zero economy.

Sergey Petrov

CEO, Pollenity

Maintains the vision of the entire company, moving persistently and successfully forward their mission. He is responsible for the financial stability and sustainability of the company, maintaining good working conditions, avoiding conflicts of interest, communicating with investors, partners, advisors, subcontractors. A lover of extreme sports, Sergo is a snowboarder, loves the mountains, cycling and spending time with his family.

Dobromir Borislavov

Director, Sofia Zoo

Dobromir has 10 years’ experience in management of commercial companies and implementation of investment projects, mainly in the public sector. Since 2016 he takes the lead of Sofia Zoo - the largest zoo in the Balkans - an institution with a 134-year history and international importance for the cultivation and conservation of valuable species. Dobrimir has been part of many international programs for breeding and reintroduction of rare species.

Petar Georgiev

Head of Strategic Alliances and Sustainability, AMPECO

Petar Georgiev is the Head of Strategic Alliances and Sustainability at AMPECO, a charging management platform for electric vehicles.
Petar is a seasoned and internationally-recognized expert in the ecosystem of electric mobility. At AMPECO, he leads projects and strategic engagement in the context of more than 10 industry bodies in Europe, North America, and globally. Additionally, he spearheads AMPECO’s positioning on public policy matters and sustainability reporting.
Previous to his role at AMPECO, Petar has actively shaped Europe’s clean transportation policy during a four-year stint in Brussels. Through his understanding of macro-trends in the EV ecosystem, he has contributed to the finalization of the EU Mobility Package and the formation of the EU Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.

Miguel Coleta

Director Sustainability, Activation & Support, Philip Morris International (PMI)

Miguel Coleta is currently Director Sustainability, Activation & Support at Philip Morris International (PMI), leading the deployment of the company’s sustainability strategy across affiliates worldwide. He joined PMI in Portugal in 2005 and since 2008 has been based in the operations center in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he has worked on topics ranging from harm reduction to human rights in the company’s supply chain. Prior to joining Philip Morris International, Miguel had a career in science as a researcher and guest assistant professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra in Portugal. Miguel holds a Ph.D. in Phytochemistry and Pharmacognosy and served one term as an elected member of the Portuguese National Parliament.

Remzi Ingilizov

Deputy manager of Ingiliz Group

Ingilizov started his career in the company as a marketing manager. He went through the positions of office manager and manager of Ingiliz Trade Company. Since 2018, he has been the deputy manager of Ingiliz Group, leading the implementation of programs and projects for the company's business development, innovations implementation and the human resources development. He holds a bachelor's and a master's degree in Marketing from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia.
 

Zornitsa Stoilova

Editorial director, The Recursive

Zornitsa is an editorial director at The Recursive, an online media, focused on emerging tech and startup ecosystems in SouthEast Europe (SEE). 
Prior to that she has 13 years of experience as reporter and editor at Capital. 
Zornitsa is also keen in podcasting. Currently she’s producing The Recursive Podcast, which tells inspiring stories about leadership and innovation from different corners of SouthEast Europe. Before that she produced and hosted the weekly podcast The Voice of Capital.

Adriyana Мihaylova

Founder of Imp-Act Agency

Adriyana Мihaylova is the founder of Imp-Act Agency - a communication agency focused on projects, brands and initiatives with a positive footprint for urban and sustainable development. She is also the founder of GRADOSCOPE - a multidisciplinary collaboration with architects and urban planners to transform unused urban spaces. Adriyana coordinated communications in the process of creating Vision Sofia 2050, a long-term development strategy for Sofia Municipality, which involved over 10,000 business representatives, politicians, administrators, NGOs and citizens. In 2021, she worked on the preparation of the capital's participation in the final of the Green Capital of Europe competition. 
She has over 15 years of experience in corporate and public communications. From 2007 to 2014 she worked at VIVACOM, where she was involved in strategic projects such as restructuring and rebranding, the launch of the VIVACOM Fund social corporate responsibility platform and the creation and development of the VIVACOM Art Hall event and culture space. From 2015 to 2019 he was Managing Director of Ogilvy Public Relations and looked after corporate, product and brand PR for companies such as IKEA, Absolut, Philips and Storytel. He is the chairman of the association GID "Urban Ideas and Design", which develops the independent branding project of Sofia - #soSofia. She has partnered with many of the biggest cultural events in the country and in 2014 she was part of the TEDxBG team.

Eng. Plamen Panchev

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

Meglena Rusenova

Chairman of the BD of Haos Invest EAD and Chairman of the Bulgarian photovoltaic association

Meglena Rusenova was born in 1974 in Plovdiv. She is a lawyer by education. In the period 2001 - 2009 she was deputy governor of Plovdiv region. Since 2011 she has been a managing director of solar and wind power plants. She is Chairman of the Board of the Bulgarian Photovoltaic Association since 2013. Following an election procedure, since December 2015 she represents renewable energy producers in the Board of the Electricity System Security Fund.