European Commission names Bulgarian to head EU statistics agency Eurostat
Bulgarian national Mariana Kotzeva will be the new Director-General of EU statistics agency Eurostat, the European Commission said on February 21 2018.
Kotzeva has served as the Deputy Director-General of Eurostat in Luxembourg since July 2012, and in January 2017 became its acting head, after the retirement of the retirement of Walter Radermacher.
Kotzeva is the first Bulgarian national to be appointed to the position of Director-General, and is also the first woman to head the European statistical office Eurostat.
With almost six years of working experience in Eurostat and over 10 years as the Secretary-General and then President of Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute,Kotzeva has all the necessary skills and experience for her new position, the European Commission said.
Kotzeva is a Bulgarian Statistics school alumnus. Prior to joining the European Commission, Kotzeva was the Head of Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute during the period 2008 – 2012.
She held a number of high-level consulting posts in the Bulgarian and foreign administrations and led international projects for the United Nations and the World Bank.
Kotzeva has a Master’s degree in economics and a PhD in statistics and econometrics at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia.
The European Commission also announced on February 21 that Bulgarian Andriana Sukova will be the new Deputy Director-General of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.
Since August 2010, she has served as Director in DG Employment.
Sukova has been working in DG Employment for over seven years, notably dealing with the monitoring and execution of programmes under the European Social Fund – a competence that will be crucial for the upcoming negotiations of the new Multiannual Financial Framework that the Commission will propose in May.
As former Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Bulgaria and member of the office of the former Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Meglena Kouneva, Sukova can also draw on useful political experience for her new position, the European Commission said.
(Photo of Kotzeva: National Statistical Institute)
