The American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria is announcing the appointment of Boyan Rashev, Partner, EY denkstatt Bulgaria and Marina Kobakova, Country Manager for Bulgaria, ING Bank to the co-chair positions of the newly established ESG Committee of the organization. Its priorities include: Cooperation with industries, Capacity building, and Advocacy and representation.
“The ESG Committee is a true example of grass-rooted activity in AmCham Bulgaria. It continues the streategic discussions and the work of previous bodies of the Chamber such as the Quality Management Working Group, the EU Green Deal Working Group and back in 2023 – the ESG Working Group. Withnessing the tremendous interest in this topic, together with Boyan and Marina, and having the support of our Board, now it is the time to announce that we entrust these roles. We expect that they will continue to deliver high-quality content and to engage our members in discussions and – in future – in crafting our positions with regard the green transition, ESG and other regulations,” said Ivan Mihaylov, CEO, AmCham Bulgaria.
About the Co-Chairs
Boyan Rashev is one of the leading sustainability experts in Bulgaria, partner at EY denkstatt. His mission is to support Bulgarian society in sustaining the continuous improvement of its quality of life. Boyan has 20 years of work experience in the fields of corporate sustainability, environmental management, valuation of ecosystem services and impact assessments, climate change mitigation and adaptation, water management. Besides analytical and consultancy support it also includes workshop moderation, training courses, presentations and dissemination on sustainability and environmental policy topics as well as managing the diverse stakeholders for major projects and institutions in Bulgaria. Boyan is also very active in shaping the sustainability agenda in Bulgaria by regularly publishing articles, participating in TV talks and public discussions on critical topics. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in “Environmental and Resource Management” from Brandenburg University of Technology in Germany.
Marina Kobakova is the Country Manager of ING Bank N.V. Bulgaria since January 2023. She is the first female and first native CEO to occupy this position in the Bulgarian branch of ING Bank since its established presence in 1994. She has more than 20 years of experience in the field of finance and banking. Marina joined ING Bank Bulgaria in September 2008 and soon after held various leadership positions in areas such as lending, corporate and financial institutions sector coverage, business development and a regional leadership champion role related to sustainable finance for ING’s corporate sector in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region during the period 2019-2023. Next to ING Bank, her professional experience included roles at Raiffeisenbank, Arthur Andersen and Deloitte. Marina Kobakova has a bachelor’s BA degree from Thames Valley University London, a master’s degree from New Bulgarian University and post-graduate certifications in Sustainability Leadership and Innovation from the American University in Bulgaria, as well as INSEAD.
Campaign and Committees 2024
The Co-Chairs Election Campaign 2024 (with a two-year mandate 2024-2025) included all five existing committees of the American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria: 1) Energy and Mineral Resources; 2) Healthcare; 3) Digital Economy, 4) Human Capital and Education and 5) Rule of Law and Legislative Reforms.
The AmCham Board decided in May 2024 the upgrade of the ESG Working Group to a ESG Committee co-chaired by Boyan Rashev, Partner, EY denkstatt Bulgaria and Marina Kobakova, Country Manager for Buglaria, ING Bank.
AmCham Bulgaria implements the approved by the Board of Directors of the Chamber’s priorities that led to the creation of tangible goals by all its Committees, which are inline with the above priorities. All of this aims to add value to its members, as well as while partnering together with various stakeholders and professional communities – to contribute to the further improvement of the investment climate and the business environment in Bulgaria. This is in a nutshell the process that was initiated in January and that concluded in early June this year. In the beginning of 2024 members had to nominate their representatives for the co-chairs of the committees. Then, in March the Board elected the co-chairs that will work in chamber’s six committees, which was followed by presentation of and discussion on their priorities in two consecutive meetings of the Board – in May and in June 2024. Since then all co-chairs have actively started to work with their colleagues in the committees.