site.btaManuela Naessl Appointed as European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Head of Bulgaria

Manuela Naessl was appointed as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s (EBRD) Head of Bulgaria this month, after five successful years as Head of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EBRD said on Wednesday. She replaces Anca Ionescu, who became the Bank’s Regional Head for Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia.

In Bulgaria, Naessl will be implementing the EBRD agenda of helping make local firms more competitive at home and abroad, financing modern, sustainable infrastructure and developing financial products and capital markets.

With a background in climate and energy banking, she brings a particular wealth of expertise to support Bulgaria’s energy transition ambition and move towards deploying more renewable energy and battery storage, EBRD said. She will be instrumental in drafting and implementing the EBRD’s next five-year Country Strategy for Bulgaria, which is due for publication in early 2025, the Bank added.

“I am excited to move to Bulgaria, where we have a strong focus on financing private sector growth and competitiveness and a great cooperation with local partner financial institutions. Already we have a busy first few months planned, with two large projects to be signed before year-end, and look forward to engaging with the Bulgarian business community,” said Naessl, quoted by EBRD.

She added: “We are very active in the energy sector and are hoping to support more renewable and battery capacity storage this and next year, as well as working closely with the European Union on supporting the private sector and the Recovery and Resilience Plan.”

While in Sarajevo, Naessl steered the EBRD successfully through the Covid-19 pandemic, deepened key client and government relationships and engaged strongly on the EBRD agenda of promoting connectivity and decarbonization.

She joined the EBRD in 2011, working in London on climate, natural resources and integrating the EBRD’s banking and policy functions before taking up a role in the field in Sarajevo. Earlier, she worked in the World Bank’s South Asia Energy Department, developing projects in Afghanistan, and as an economist at the UK’s Department for Energy and Climate Change, advising on the country’s renewable energy policy framework.

To date, the EBRD has invested more than EUR 4.5 billion in Bulgaria in just under 300 projects.