Bulgaria’s Parliament elects new deputy head of central bank

Bulgaria’s National Assembly voted on March 13 to elect Karina Karaivanova as the next deputy governor of central Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).

In the 240-seat House, 145 MPs voted – 101 for, 28 against, with 16 abstentions.

Votes in favour came from GERB-UDF, Magnitsky Act-sanctioned Delyan Peevski’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning, populist ITN, one MP from the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left and three non-aligned MPs.

Voting against were four We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria MPs, 21 from Vuzrazhdane, three from the BSP – United Left and three from Velichie.

Ten WCC-DB, three BSP – United Left and three Mech MPs abstained.

The post of deputy governor of the central bank is on the list of 10 office-bearers from which the head of state must choose a caretaker Prime Minister.

Karaivanova succeeds Andrei Gyurov as deputy governor of BNB, following his resignation to take up the post of caretaker Prime Minister. She will take over his former portfolio of head of BNB’s Issue Department.

She has served in GERB governments and held various posts after being nominated by Boiko Borissov’s party.

Karaivanova earlier told the parliamentary portfolio committee that conducted her hearing that she would not accept being appointed caretaker Prime Minister.

Martin Dimitrov of WCC-DB, the only MP to speak in the March 13 debate, said that the group was opposed because it was not appropriate for a Parliament in its final days to be electing someone to the post, and this should be left to the next Parliament.

The deputy governor of BNB was being elected by parties that, according to opinion polls, would not be returning to Parliament, while the person elected would hold office for several years, Dimitrov said.

Karaivanova has a master’s degree in finance and banking from Sofia University and has additional qualifications from educational institutions in Ireland, the Netherlands, Japan and Bulgaria.

She began her career in the private sector as a financial analyst. She later worked as a PHARE expert at the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

From February 2003, she was on the staff of the National Fund Directorate of the Ministry of Finance of Bulgaria – the structure through which European funds are certified and paid. In the Directorate, she was successively an expert, head of department and director.

In December 2012, Karaivanova became Deputy Minister of Finance at the end of the first Borissov government when Simeon Dyankov was Minister of Finance . She took up the post after the appointment of Boryana Pencheva as a member of the governing council of BNB.

After the Borissov government resigned in February 2013, Karaivanova left the deputy ministerial position and returned as director of the National Fund Directorate.

In November 2014, she again became Deputy Minister of Finance – this time in the team of Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov in Borissov’s second government.

In July 2016, Karaivanova was proposed by GERB for the position of chairperson of the Financial Supervision Commission. She was the only candidate for the position and was elected by the parliament on July 28 2016.

In late 2018, the government decided that Karaivanova would become Bulgaria’s representative on the board of directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London. She took up the position on March 1 2019, leaving the FSC early .

From then, Karaivanova was on the EBRD’s board of directors.