Sylvia Indjova-Vassikova
Sylvia joined the team as a management and control systems short-term expert and since July 2020 she has performed duties as long-term international expert – regional development programming and grants manager.
She is knowledgeable in macroeconomics, fiscal policy, public finance management, public administration, regional, rural and agricultural policy development, decentralization/local government management, and banking and budgeting. Sylvia is authority in management of government bodies, setting up and running structures in public sector, good governance and change management.
Holding Master degree in Economics she has over 20 years proven and valued, by national and international experts, experience in overall management and supervision of business structures and processes. During her tenure as expert at the Bulgarian National Bank and a senior official of the Ministry of Finance of Bulgaria, she developed skills and competencies in preparing high-quality economic analysis and forecasts and have extensive experience presenting the results to the Government, Members of Parliament and high-level European Commission representatives, as well as to non-specialist audience like regional and local authorities, socio-economic partners and non-government sector.
Being in charge of EU funds in Bulgaria for the period 1999-2010 [Authorising Officer in charge of a budget of above 8 billion euro managed under operational programs co-financed by Structural and Cohesion Funds and pre-accession assistance] her duties involved deep understanding of cross-sectoral areas and their interrelation and implication on country and sector strategies. Since 2010 she has honed these competences as international consultant on identifying areas of improvements and delivering policy recommendations to governments of countries in the region under economic transformation (Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Albania, Macedonia).
In her years in with the Ministry of Finance in Bulgaria Sylvia has led more than 10 national and international teams reforming the public sector. As Governor for the Republic of Bulgaria, Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and a chairman of Board of Directors of state owned enterprises, she has extensive experience in collaborating with very high-level Government officials and liaises with wide variety of government agencies, international structures and bodies and financial institutions – IMF, EIB, EBRD and WB. She has a solid track record in training and mentoring experience in the context of strategic planning and public funds management. Sylvia is a guest lecturer in public finance management in various universities in Bulgaria and specialized public institutions for capacity building and development.