Mr. Vasil Golemanski is the Chair of the Financial Supervision Commission, elected by the National Assembly for a six-year term. He has served as the Executive Director of the Central Depository since 2012. His professional career includes key positions at the Bulgarian Stock Exchange.

Mr. Golemanski graduated from the Technical University – Plovdiv branch in 1991 with a degree in Electronics and Automation Engineering. In 2020, he earned a master’s degree in International Business from Southwestern University “Neofit Rilski” in Blagoevgrad.

Among Mr. Golemanski’s priorities are transparency, active dialogue with supervised entities, digitalization, strict supervision of the capital, insurance, and pension markets, as well as, last but not least, a smooth transition to the Eurozone and cybersecurity.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Manyu Moravenov is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Director of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. He has more than 25 years of experience in finance and investments, real estate, and capital markets.

He is also a professional member of RICS – the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Prior to joining the Bulgarian Stock Exchange, Mr. Moravenov held several senior management positions in institutions and non-governmental organisations operating within Bulgaria’s capital and investment markets.

Under Mr. Moravenov’s leadership, Bulgaria’s SME Growth Market – BEAM – has become one of the success stories of the EU capital markets. Within just two years, 19 small and medium-sized enterprises were admitted to trading on BEAM.

Mr. Moravenov is the founder and driving force behind Bulgaria’s first and only ESG think tank – the Centre for Sustainable Finance and Energy, established by the Bulgarian Stock Exchange and the Independent Bulgarian Energy Exchange.

Prof. Daniel Valchev graduated from the Fourth Language High School in Varna and earned his law degree from the Faculty of Law at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in 1989. The following year, he began his doctoral studies at the Department of Theory and History of State and Law. Since 1990, he has taught at the Faculty of Law, first as a part-time assistant professor and later as Assistant Professor and Senior Assistant Professor.

Prof. Valchev was elected Member of Parliament twice, in 2001 and 2005. From 2001 to 2005, he chaired the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration. He was one of Bulgaria’s three representatives to the Convention on the Future of Europe, which drafted the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. From 2005 to 2009, he served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Science.

He served two terms as Head of the Department of Theory and History of State and Law and has been a member of the Academic Council of Sofia University since 2015. Since April 2019, Prof. Valchev has served as Dean of the Faculty of Law at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

He teaches courses in General Theory of Law, General Theory of the State, Political and Legal Doctrines, and Human Rights Protection.

Natalia Petrova has more than 20 years of professional experience in asset management, capital markets, equity and bond trading, financial product and service development, alternative investment funds, and private equity investments.

She holds licenses issued by the Bulgarian Financial Supervision Commission (FSC) for investment advisory and brokerage services, as well as a certificate for trading in government securities issued by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Natalia Petrova holds a Ph.D. in Finance and has been a university lecturer for 20 years, teaching courses including Stock Exchanges, Corporate Finance, and Portfolio Management.

Georgi Karadzhov has more than 30 years of professional experience in the financial sector, with proven expertise in market infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and operational management. In May 2025, he was appointed Executive Director and Member of the Board of Directors of Central Depository AD.

Mr. Karadzhov has been part of the Central Depository AD team since 1998, holding a number of senior management positions over the years, including serving for many years as Director of the Registers and Settlement Directorate.

In addition to his professional contribution to Central Depository AD, Georgi Karadzhov represents Bulgaria in a number of international working groups within the TARGET2-Securities (T2S) platform and the European Central Securities Depositories Association (ECSDA).

Susan joined EFAMA in May 2021 where she is Deputy Director for capital markets regulation (MiFID/MiFIR, EMIR and CSDR) as well as digital finance regulation.

Susan has a solid background in EU financial services regulation.  Her experience, both in-house and in Brussels-based trade associations, spans FMI, banking prudential and securitization regulation.  Susan started out her career in London representing the British insurance industry.  She led efforts by the sector to obtain improved market access through WTO negotiations and bilateral regulatory dialogues. 

Susan is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian, and can carry a conversation in Swedish and Russian.  Susan holds degrees from the University of Ottawa (BA with Honours in Politics), and an MSc in European Studies from the London School of Economics.

Susan joined EFAMA in May 2021 where she is Deputy Director for capital markets regulation (MiFID/MiFIR, EMIR and CSDR) as well as digital finance regulation.

Susan has a solid background in EU financial services regulation.  Her experience, both in-house and in Brussels-based trade associations, spans FMI, banking prudential and securitization regulation.  Susan started out her career in London representing the British insurance industry.  She led efforts by the sector to obtain improved market access through WTO negotiations and bilateral regulatory dialogues. 

Susan is fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian, and can carry a conversation in Swedish and Russian.  Susan holds degrees from the University of Ottawa (BA with Honours in Politics), and an MSc in European Studies from the London School of Economics.

Ludovic is head of Nasdaq's European Office of Government Relations, which main role is to elaborate Nasdaq's policy positions on EU legislation. To implement this goal, the office is the interface with the European Commission, European Parliament, EU Member States Permanent Representations in Brussels, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), European Central Bank (ECB) and ensures the necessary network of contacts in Europe including for Nasdaq's senior management. For Nasdaq's positions to be represented more widely, the office also works with the Federation of European Securities Exchanges (FESE), the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) as well as the European Association of Clearing Houses (EACH). Ludovic Aigrot is a former chairman of FESE's management committee and is observer to FESE Board as well as a member of WFE's Working Committee and an observer to WFE Board. Ludovic Aigrot holds a post-graduate diploma in international commercial law from Sorbonne University (Paris, France). Prior to joining Nasdaq he was Director of EU Affairs for Euronext, he also worked at the Council of Europe on economic crime issues as well as for the French derivatives market (MATIF) and the banking sector.

Thomas has been with EFAMA since June 2017. He is a Senior Economist with an extensive background in central banking and macro-economic statistics at the European Central Bank and the Belgian National Bank. Thomas closely follows the developments in a variety of investment fund statistics (AuM, net fund sales, fund ownership, and more), both at the European and the national level. He also coordinates the yearly EFAMA Fact Book and Asset Management Report publications. In addition, he is responsible for EFAMA’s data collection on ESG and the contact point for the European Fund Classification.

Ms. Denitsa Velichkova was elected by the National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria on May 15th, 2025.

Ms. Denitsa Velichkova holds a Master’s degree in Law from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and a Master’s degree in “Finance” from the University “St. Cyril and Methodius” of Veliko Tarnovo “. Ms. Velichkova is developing her professional expertise in the field of banking and public finance.

Her professional career includes leading positions at the Financial Supervision Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Bulgarian Development Bank, as well as consulting on European projects and international initiatives in the aviation industry.

With over 25 years of experience in the legal and financial fields, Ms. Velichkova possesses expertise in the areas of regulatory analysis, regulatory framework, and optimization of administrative processes. As Secretary General of the FSC for the past six years, Mrs. Velichkova is responsible for overall strategic, operational, administrative and financial management, including the coordination and optimization of key processes.

In her new role, Ms. Velichkova will work to harmonize regulations with European requirements in the context of joining the Eurozone, prioritizing digitalization, reducing administrative and regulatory burden, developing innovative forms of financing, and introducing ESG (environmental, social, and governance factors) principles and building a stronger financial culture. The main focus remains building a sustainable investment culture and establishing Bulgaria as a good place for investments.

Prof. Dr. Armin J. Kammel, LL.M. (London), MBA (CLU), is Professor of Financial Regulation at the University of Insurance and Finance, where his teaching focuses primarily on regulatory compliance.

He is also Professor (FH) of Banking Law and Capital Markets Regulation at Lauder Business School (LBS) in Vienna, Austria, as well as an Honorary Professor (Ehrenprofessor), faculty member, and Programme Coordinator for the LL.M./MLS in International Banking Law and Capital Markets at Danube University Krems (DUK), Austria. Prof. Dr. Kammel also serves as Executive Director of the Josef von Sonnenfels Center at DUK.

In addition, he is an Adjunct Professor at California Lutheran University (CLU) in the United States and a Visiting Professor at a number of prestigious institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, Bulgaria, Israel, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Thailand.

Marco Kretschmann is a capital-markets expert with almost twenty years of experience across portfolio management, quantitative analysis and investment risk. He currently heads investment risk management at the German Pension Protection Fund, where he chairs the risk committee, sits on the investment committee and leads the strategic asset allocation process. Earlier in his career he worked as an investment strategist and fixed-income portfolio manager and later as a senior quantitative analyst and risk manager, designing SAA and TAA processes for insurance and pension portfolios under Solvency II and supervisory stress-test constraints. His work today also covers private-markets implementation, manager selection and the use of quantitative and machine-learning methods in investment risk. He holds a Diplom in Economics from the University of Cologne, completed the Certificate in Quantitative Finance (CQF) in London, was a Visiting Researcher at the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) and has published on exchange-rate regimes and the quality of institutions.

Matthias Siller is Head of the EMEA Equities Team and Co-Manager of the Barings Eastern Europe strategy and Barings Emerging EMEA Opportunities PLC. He began his career in fund management at Raiffeisen Zentralbank Austria in 1997 as a Market Maker/Proprietary Trader in Central & Eastern European Equities and Derivatives. Prior to joining the firm in 2006, he was a Portfolio Manager for Central & Eastern European Equities at Raiffeisen Capital Management. Before that, he was an EMEA Equity Portfolio Manager at Bawag – PSK Invest. Matthias is a member of the CFA Institute and holds a Master’s degree from Vienna University in Economics and Business Administration.

Biser Petkov joined the Fund of Funds in May 2023 as Executive Director and Member of the Management Board. He has extensive professional experience in the regulation and supervision of the non-banking financial sector, having served as Chairman of the State Insurance Supervision Agency (2002–2003) and as Deputy Chairman of the Financial Supervision Commission, heading the Social Insurance Supervision Division (2003–2009).

He also has significant experience in public administration, having served as Governor of the National Social Security Institute from 2011 to 2017. From May 2017 to December 2019, he served as Minister of Labour and Social Policy.

Biser Petkov holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of National and World Economy (UNWE), where he was appointed Associate Professor in 2012.

Konstantinos Kaniouras is a First Officer at the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and is currently seconded to the Financial Services Directorate of the Ministry of Finance of Cyprus in connection with the upcoming Cypriot Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

He has nearly 20 years of professional experience in the financial services sector, gained in Luxembourg, Cyprus, and Germany. His experience spans both the industry and regulatory perspectives on the legal and policy aspects of fund management, asset management, and financial innovation.

As part of his responsibilities in the area of financial innovation, Konstantinos actively participates as a national expert in working groups related to the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), the DLT Pilot Regime, and ESMA’s Digital Finance Standing Committee.

Konstantinos is a qualified lawyer in Greece and Cyprus. He holds an LL.B. from the University of Athens, an LL.M. from Heidelberg University, a further Master’s degree in Law from the University of Luxembourg, and a Master of Business Law and Taxation (MBLT) from the University of Mannheim.

During his studies in Luxembourg, he completed internships at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Embassy of Greece.