Greek-Bulgarian Conference - Panel 1
THE GREEK-BULGARIAN CONFERENCE
Saturday 16 September 2023, - Panel 1
Keynote Speaker: Mr Bogdan Bogdanov, Minister of Economy and Industry
14:30 15:30 - “Ports and Infrastructure”
- Christos Staikouras, Greek Minister of Infrastructure
- Andrei Tsekov, Bulgarian Minister of Regional development and Public works
- Georgi Gvozdeikov, Bulgarian Minister of Transport and Communications
- Anna Mihneva-Natova, Bulgarian Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications
- Hristo Aleksiev, Secretary of Economy of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria
- Athanasios Liagkos, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors & Managing Director of Thessaloniki Port Authority (ThPA) SA
- Yannis Kirkinezis, Vice President and Managing Director, Balkans, Hill International
Moderator: George Kremlis, fmr. Advisor to the Greek PM, Honorary Director of the EC, Member of the Board of the EPLO
Speaker - Keynote speach

Bogdan Bogdanov holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the Higher School of Insurance and Finance. He obtained his master’s degree in the field of European business and finance at the University of National and World Economy and Nottingham Trent University in the UK. He has been a specialist in business development and structuring of investment projects for over 10 years.
He has worked for Bulgarian and foreign companies with a focus on development and high added value industries.
Bogdan Bogdanov was the Executive Director of InvestBulgaria Agency (IBA) from April 2022 until his election as Minister in June 2023.
Speakers
He was born in Lamia in 1973. He was elected Member of Parliament in Fthiotida with Nea Demokratia political party on the elections of 2007, 2009, 2012 (May and June), 2015 (January and September), 2019 and 2023 (May and June). In June 2012, he was appointed as Alternate Minister of Finance, a position he held until the January 2015 elections. In July 2019, he was appointed as Minister of Finance, a position he held until the May 2023 elections. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of London (Imperial College) and a PhD in Banking and Finance from the City University of London. He is an Associate Professor in Finance at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
He was a member of the Collaborating Teaching Staff at the Hellenic Open University (2004-2007), Assistant Professor at the Athens University of Economics and Business (2006-2018) and Visiting Professor at the Universities of Thessaly, Athens, City and the European University of Cyprus. He has published over 60 research papers in international refereed scientific journals. His work has been cited by scientists in over 4,400 published papers in international journals (citations). He has worked at the Central Bank of England and the Eurobank Banking Group.

Andrei Tsekov, Minister of Regional Development and Public Works of Republic of Bulgaria. The Minister of Regional Development and Public Works Andrei Tsekov was born in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria. He graduated First English Language High School in the city of Sofia and the Faculty of Law of Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". He specialized in law of the European Union at the University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and management at Stanford (USA). He has over 20 years of experience in the management of complex investment projects, implemented on the territories of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Iraq. He participated in the management of large corporate structures, managed construction contracts for large projects, and dealt with the resolution of legal disputes. He taught construction legislation and contract law at the University of Architecture, Construction and Geodesy, as well as at the Higher school - VSU “Lyuben Karavelov” in the city of Sofia. He held the position of Deputy Minister of Finance in December 2021 - August 2022.

An aviation engineer with PhD degree from the "Georgi Benkovski" Air Force Academy, entrepreneur and a member of the 47-th National Assembly. He was a Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Transport and Communications.
Former manager of "Bulgaria Heli Med Service" EAD and a professional rally driver, Champion of Bulgaria for 2003 and the Adriatic Cup winner, co-founder of Motorsport Academy - a training academy for safety and extreme driving for preparation and training of young rally drivers, designer and production planner of rally cars and implementer of one-make motorsport championship.

Мaster in Law from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” with over 25 years of experience in the waterborne transport sector and the European projects management and number of additional qualifications at the University of Virginia, Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy, Clingendael Institute of International Relations, University of Cambridge, University of Amsterdam.
Former Director-General of the Port Infrastructure Company which is the Managing Body of the Bulgarian ports responsible for managing the port infrastructure, managing the vessel traffic and ensuring the maritime safety.

Hristo Alexiev holds a master's degree in International Economics from the University of National and World Economy and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Plovdiv. He holds a number of additional qualifications and certificates in the field of economics, management and digitization from Imperial College London, Oxford University Saïd Business School and from other international educational institutions. Over the years, he has held various managerial positions in the field of transport, logistics and economic advisory. Some of Mr Alexiev’s recent industry roles include: Consultant on the project for the construction of Intermodal Container Terminal in Plovdiv; Member of the board of directors of the Public Access Zone in Port of Burgas; Chairman of the board of directors of Port of Burgas; and, Chairman of the management board and deputy general director of the National Railway Infrastructure Company of Bulgaria.
Starting from 2017, Mr Alexiev served as Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications in four interim governments appointed by President Rumen Radev. Effective from August 2022 until June 2023, Mr Alexiev was also appointed to act as Deputy Prime Minister on Economic Policy and was largely responsible for all industry and all key economic processes in the country. Key accomplishment include the resolution of severe energy crisis in Bulgaria, provoked by the war in Ukraine, by assuring diversification of gas supplies, recapitalization of key state-owned energy companies and through the finalization and putting into operation of gas interconnector Greece-Bulgaria for cross-border energy security. He played a key role in the implementation of anti-inflationary measures in Bulgaria and was also an active promoter for the government’s strategic projects and initiatives in the field of transport, energy and digitalization in the wider economic region. At present he is holding the position of Secretary on Economic Policies of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Athanasios Liagkos is currently the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors & Managing Director of Thessaloniki Port Authority (ThPA) S.A., the Chairman of the Hellenic Ports Association (ELIME) and the Chairman of “Exantas” Port Training Institute. He has served as Deputy Chairman, D. Chief Executive Officer and member of the BoD of Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) S.A.
He was member of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund as a coordinator of the National Strategic Plan for Ports and Marinas and he served as a BoD member in all Port Authorities in Greece. Also, served as Chief Executive in banks, financial institutions and large enterprises in Greece and abroad, as well as member of the Board of Directors in company groups.
He has as extensive expertise in the fields of corporate strategic analysis and corporate governance. He studied economics at the University of Athens and holds an MBA postgraduate degree. He is member of the Economic Chamber of Greece, the Association of Chief Executive Officers (EASE) and the Management Committee of the Federation of Industries of Greece (SBE).

Mr. Yannis Kirkinezis is a chartered engineer with more than 30 years of experience in the construction industry including project and contract management, claims analysis, management consulting, construction inspection, and mechanical engineering. His projects consist of oil and gas (i.e. crude oil pipelines), power plants (i.e. Florina Thermal Power Station, Thessalonica Power Plant– 390 MW)), power transmission and distribution (4800 MW Power Station in South Africa), pipelines (i.e. Trans Adriatic Pipeline), roads and highways, tunnels, rail and transit, airports, industrial and manufacturing facilities, water supply and irrigation, sewage systems, as well as mining equipment and facilities, in Greece, North Macedonia, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates. Working for Hill, Mr. Kirkinezis prepared audit, profit/loss forecast, and cost to completion reports for multiple industrial projects in the Middle East. He also prepared claims for disputes in excess of €400 million as a claims consultant.
Mr. Kirkinezis holds a degree in Civil Engineering and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering for Petroleum & Petrochemical Equipment from the University ‘Petrol si Gaze din Ploiesti’ in Romania. He has excellent command of English and Romanian and is fluent in Albanian. Mr. Kirkinezis has supervised multidisciplinary teams, motivating them to achieve project goals without compromising quality or safety, and since 2019, he has been appointed as Hill’s Country Manager for Albania, where he oversees all the company’s activities and projects in the country. Currently, he is leading Hill teams from the positions of Vice President and Managing Director for Balkans region.