The CEO of Invest Sofia, Maria Hristova PhD, attended the official opening of the laboratory, which tests technological products produced for global car manufacturers in Visteon’s engineering centers around the world. Among the official guests at the ceremony were the executive director of the company Sachin Lavande, the ambassador of the United States of America to Bulgaria H.E. Kenneth Merten, the Minister of Innovation and Growth Milena Stoicheva and the Deputy Mayor for Finance and Health of the Metropolitan Municipality – Ivan Vassilev.

With the investment exceeding 10 million dollars and a team of over 70 highly qualified Bulgarian specialists, the laboratory will test the technological products that the company’s engineering centers in Europe produce for the world’s car manufacturers. The equipment with which the teams work has been specially delivered to the laboratory from Germany, Austria, the USA and Asia, and meets the standards developed by the international standardization organizations ISO and IEC. The laboratory complements the rich portfolio of services that Visteon’s technological center in Sofia offers. This confirms the engineering department in our country as the backbone of the company’s operations throughout Europe, which continues to actively develop. In 2022, Visteon became part of Invest Sofia’s initiative for individual administrative service “Green Card”.

The purpose of this memorandum is to create a practical framework for the development of closer cooperation in relation to the mission of SMPIA aimed at improving the local entrepreneurial system, to support regional and national education programs, as well as to offer assistance to foreign and domestic investors, who wish to establish and/or expand their business on the territory of the Metropolitan Municipality.
To achieve this goal, SMPIA and IBM Bulgaria will make efforts to promote the city as a good place for investments, by exchanging useful information and assisting investors, the municipality and start-up companies to turn good ideas into real projects. They will also cooperate in the implementation of various “soft measures” to serve as a tool for improving the living environment and business development in the area.

The memorandum was signed by Maria Hristova, Senior Executive Director, SMPIA and Georgi Ganev, General Manager, IBM Bulgaria.

The CEO of Invest Sofia, Maria Hristova PhD, participated in the fifth anniversary edition of the initiative. The official ceremony was organized in cooperation with Sofia Municipality, and there were more than 100 nominations for the prizes. The company “Eldrive Bulgaria” became the laureate in the category “Innovative idea”, the award for “Innovative project” went to “Melexis”, the criteria for their award was the level of innovation, commercial potential and social responsibility. The company “Capto” took the award in the “Startup” category, and the winner of the prize in the “Project for corporate social responsibility” category was “Odaya Home”.The award “Business Person of the Year” went to Peter Ruben, country manager of KBC Group in Bulgaria (KBC Group) and CEO of UBB, and the special prize of the jury went to “Proxiad”.

Among the official guests of the jubilee edition of “Innovation Awards” were the Ambassador of France in Bulgaria Joël Meyer, the Minister of Innovation and Growth in resignation Milena Stoycheva and Mila Nenova, executive director of the Bulgarian Investment Agency.

Тhe 12-week intensive IBM Sofia Accelerator professional program was launched оn March 29, at the Campus X Event Centre . The CEO of Invest Sofia Maria Hristova PhD attended the event. The initiative of the technology giant is focused on startups that aim to increase their knowledge of the industry and the new technologies, allowing them to expand their business prospects and attract investor support. Following the completion of the program, each participating company will have the opportunity to present their work at an investor showcase day, which will also be attended by IBM executives, media representatives and prominent industry figures. IBM plans to organize two 3-month programs per year, one from April to June and the other one from October to December.

The energy, agriculture, tourism and light industry sectors were the highlights of the Bulgarian-Moldovan business forum, which took place in Chisinau and was organized by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry together with the Moldovan Investment Agency, and with the support of the Ministry of Economy and Industry of Bulgaria . The CEO of Invest Sofia, Maria Hristova PhD, also took part in the event. She presented the activities of the Agency and our initiatives to support business in the capital. There were more than 60 participants in the forum from both countries. The Minister of Energy of Moldova Victor Parlikov and the Deputy Minister of Economy and Industry of Bulgaria Irina Stonova took part in the opening of the forum. More information can be found on the BCCI website.

The awards were presented for the 11th year in a row and their purpose is to highlight stimulating examples of successes in the fight against the informal economy and to enchance leading institutions and individuals with an active position and contribution in limiting the gray economy. The ceremony was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of Invest Sofia, Maria Hristova PhD.

Bozhidar Bozhanov, a deputy from PP-DB took the prize in the category for a normative act or administrative practice that leads to the limitation of the gray economy. A group of people’s representatives received the award for the changes in the Labor Code, starting the transition from a paper to an electronic occupational license. The Bulgarian National Bank was awarded for an organization that contributes to the restriction of the informal economy. And the general director of the Bulgarian News Agency – Kiril Valchev took the prize in the category of journalist and media that contributed to changing public attitudes towards the informal economy.

The event “BUSINESS MASTERY – the platinum rule in business” is part of ActionCOACH’s latest program for managers and business owners, which combines the advantages of a unique business club, training program, business consulting and networking at the same time. The goal is to help business owners achieve real results while enjoying the process of running a business. For the last 4 years, the business consulting company has worked with over 120 businesses and 5 large municipalities in the country.

The event took place on March 20th in Sofia Tech Park. One of the presenters at the event was Viktor Goussev – head of the “Investment Analysis” department at Invest Sofia who presented the business ecosystem in Sofia. The CEO of the Agency, Maria Hristova PhD , also attended the event.

PechaKucha is a global movement that started 11 years ago and events of this format are held in over 1,200 cities around the world. Their main goal is to connect professionals from different fields to exchange ideas, create new contacts and opportunities. About 1,000 people participated in the event in Sofia, among them representatives of startups and established companies in the creative sector. All presentations will be available on the YouTube channel of the organizers https://www.youtube.com/@pknsofia

“Together we are stronger” – this was the motto of the event organized by Invest Sofia and the Bilateral Chamber of Commerce Bulgaria – Romania (BCCBR), where students from the University of Economics in Bucharest met and talked with representatives of Bulgarian and international companies with offices in Bulgaria. “It is our pleasure to host this event.One of our main goals is exactly the support of foreign companies that want to set up business in Sofia,” stated the CEO of Invest Sofia, Maria Hristova PhD at the opening of the meeting. “The idea of this meeting is to find out what is happening in Bulgaria from a business point of view. It may be important for you to know how cooperation and bilateral relations contribute to the development of entrepreneurship in Bulgaria and Romania,” said the president of BCCBR Doru Dragomir.

The young entrepreneurs from the Bucharest University of Economics, which is the largest of its kind in Southeast Europe, were most interested in business development opportunities and finding partners in Bulgaria. A large number of them have start-ups or work in family companies. Among the young people were those with start-up businesses in the field of material recycling, companies for the creation of solar parks, for security in rail transport, hotels and restaurants and real estate trade.

Kristin Dermendzhiev a chief expert from the “Investment Analysis” department at Invest Sofia, presented to the students the various initiatives of the Agency in support of companies that want to establish or develop their business in the Bulgarian capital, as well as Invest Sofia’s partner network, which can provide support to new entrepreneurs. One of the companies that is part of the Agency’s network – Easy Consult was presented by the Managing Director – Alexander Georgiev. The company has over 20 years of experience in the field of human resources, has 2 offices in Romania and has been working on the local market for several years. Vesselin Mavrodiev – Head of Business Unit Transformers
at CERB Group presented the activities of the company, which has 75 years of experience in the energy sector and is developing its business in Romania as well. Radoslav Nedelchev – Country Manager of the global marketing and communication network Dentsu and Chief Client Officer South East Europe told the students about the importance of understanding cultural differences when establishing partnerships and developing business in

On March 8th the Konrad Adenauer Foundation organized the event “Women in Focus: New Paths, Equal Opportunities”. It was attended by Dr. Maria Hristova and Radostina Belcheva, chief expert at Invest Sofia. The meeting was opened by the ambassador of the Republic of Germany in Bulgaria Irene Maria Plank, the main speakers were the CEO of the Insurance Company “Bulstrad” Svetla Nestorova, Tanya Georgieva from the German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Kristina Baksanova from bTV and the co-founder of the research center “Trend” Evelina Slavkova.

The CEO of Invest Sofia, Dr. Maria Hristova, participated in the conference “EmpowerHer: Elevate to Excellence”, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria on the occasion of the International Women’s Day – March 8. The EmpowerHer initiative was launched in 2022 between the American Chambers of Commerce in Europe, the American Chamber of Commerce in the European Union and the US Department of Commerce. The main objective of the event is to increase the economic empowerment of women in the workplace and women’s entrepreneurship. Among the main points of the initiative are improving the business environment for women, identification of opportunities and mechanisms for raising awareness of the depth and significance of the topic among various stakeholders.

The program of the conference “EmpowerHer: Elevate to Excellence” includes a panel discussion “Lead and Inspire” and a presentation of the European initiative “INVEST’HER: Encouraging entrepreneurship among women”, which aims to overcome the imbalance in women’s access to finance for entrepreneurship in the EU countries and to build a network of investors and start-up companies, which through the sharing of experience and knowledge will support the building of capacity, contacts and opportunities for the development of women’s entrepreneurship.

The contribution and leadership of women should be a priority in order to create together an innovation ecosystem that supports creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship. This was said by the outgoing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maria Gabriel, at the opening of the forum. Ivan Mihailov-the CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce stated that the Chamber is dedicated to promoting equality, inclusion, non-discrimination in all aspects of business and society. The Municipal Councilor from the Metropolitan Municipal Council and Chairwoman of the organization “GERB Women”, Ekaterina Yordanova, addressed the organizers and partners of the event with the words: “Women bring creativity and constructiveness, which have the power to change societies for the better, but today’s forum also shows that all we still need more confidence and more mutual support. I appeal to the representatives of the business organizations, the non-governmental and academic sectors, to the ladies belonging to all political parties with an appeal for common work not only in the month of the Woman, but also throughout the year!”.

The Bulgarian Investment Agency awarded the most significant investment projects implemented in 2023. The official ceremony was attended by the Chief Executive Officer of Invest Sofia Dr. Maria Hristova and Viktor Gusev, Head of the Investment Analysis Department.

The big award “Investor of the Year” was received by “Schneider Electric Bulgaria” and was presented by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maria Gabriel.

The award categories this year were: “Investor of the Year 2023”, “Innovative Product”, “Successful Startup”, “Sustainable Business”, “Municipality in Bulgaria with the most investments for 2023”, “Investment with a low carbon footprint” “, “Investment with a high contribution to development in the region”, “Investment in green”, “Investment in human capital”, “Investment in innovative business” and “Investment in business expansion”. The awardees are companies that have taken a significant step in their development through sustainable and efficient investments, created new jobs and committed to the implementation of high technologies, in accordance with the goal of the Bulgarian Investment Agency to promote smart and sustainable economic growth.