women leaders Bulgaria

Albena Hinova is the founder and manager of Health Excellence, a consultancy that guides patients and coordinates their treatment in Bulgaria and abroad. She has extensive experience in patient services and has led international healthcare projects within major hospital groups. As a healthcare consultant, she has worked with insurers, helped build new medical centres and managed both specialised clinics and multi-specialty facilities.

For more than 20 years, Ilieva, Voutcheva & Co has helped Bulgarian and international companies and business owners operate confidently in Bulgaria, structure their businesses and identify new opportunities. Its strength lies in a highly qualified team with a comprehensive view of every transaction, registration and decision down to the smallest detail, while understanding Bulgaria's business environment and making clear communication with clients a priority.

Elena Zayakova brings together two seemingly different worlds: science and creativity. With a background in biology and chemistry, and professional experience spanning sustainability, strategy and the creative industries, she combines analytical rigour with curiosity, and the ability to see connections others might miss. It is this blend of evidence-based thinking and creative problem-solving that shapes her approach to sustainability – helping businesses look beyond compliance and challenge conventional thinking.

DECIBEL is not only Bulgaria's largest manufacturer of soundproofing solutions. It is a company with a mission: to help people escape noise pollution at home, at work, at school and in public spaces. Diana Nedkova, co-founder, talks about the principles of a healthy acoustic environment and the decision to create optimal acoustic conditions at Stremezh School in partnership with the Yordan Kamdzhalov Foundation.

From impressive residential, office and infrastructure projects, and one of Bulgaria's largest solar parks with battery storage facilities, to the restoration of historic buildings and architectural monuments in Sofia, lawyer Stanislava Lazarova-Tochevska's work as a consultant is discreet and often behind the scenes, yet its results speak for themselves. For over 20 years, she has helped investors in real estate, urban planning and construction turn their plans into reality.

With more than 20 years of experience in the IT sector, Rumyana Mitreva has seen plenty of change – and has learnt to be part of it. From a young girl curious about how technology works to a leader of large teams working on advanced concepts, products and services, she has honed her ability to create new solutions and lead teams to successful results, while also thinking about the foundations of humanity's endless striving for technological perfection and its deepening dependency on technology.

Founded 13 years ago, investment company Match More builds more than exceptional residential buildings. It has created a comprehensive process in which investment goals, architectural and construction quality, and residents' satisfaction form a single whole – one with its own signature, vision for development and responsibility to clients.

Access to information and the ability to choose among the best medical specialists in Bulgaria are just some of the many benefits offered by the i-Health app. The innovative concept developed by Svetlana Sabotinova as part of the SANOMA portfolio provides exceptional opportunities for both Bulgarians and international residents in the country to select the best diagnostic and treatment options for themselves and their loved ones.

Antonia Troullous represents a new generation of women leaders who move confidently between borders, professions and roles without being defined by any of them. Her career spans law, education, recruitment and business, with companies operating in both Bulgaria and the UK. What connects these different fields is her ability to recognise opportunities, bring people and institutions together and turn knowledge into practical results.

Berlitz has been teaching languages and shaping approaches to communication for almost 150 years. Today, Berlitz combines its long-established methodology with new technologies and approaches to meet the needs of a changing world.

In Bulgaria, this next chapter is led by Michal Nadzon, who took over the Berlitz franchise in 2025. An economist by education, he has more than 15 years of experience in the language training industry and has managed Berlitz in several markets across Central and Eastern Europe.

Desislava Slavcheva is an IT consultant and culinary expert who works with and for people who appreciate delicious, well-prepared and beautifully presented food. Her many years of experience organising themed dinners and events, her attention to detail and her colourful travels around the world inspired her to create the SoGood by Desi Slavcheva brand, offering a collection of gourmet products that make cooking easier for today's busy lifestyles and turn every meal into an enjoyable experience.

Creating a new fashion brand is a challenge – and Tanya Ian is handling it brilliantly. This year she is celebrating the tenth anniversary of Tanya Ian Exclusive and launching a new brand, AURAË PARIS.

How have you changed as a designer over the years?

As technology, creative industries and international business become increasingly interconnected, success depends not only on ideas and expertise, but also on understanding people, cultures and the environments in which relationships are built.

Engineer Natalia Varbanova joined the family business Tisina LTD in 2007. Today, Tisina LTD is a recognized manufacturer of cast iron castings for the machinery, energy, agricultural, transport, construction, road construction, and other industries.

Your father founded Tisina in 2001. What changes did you introduce when you joined the company?

Attorney at law Elena Ficherova has almost 20 years of professional experience as an investigator, legal adviser and expert within the Ministry of Interior and state anti-corruption bodies, accumulating a valuable insight into the state and its institutions. After a critical situation forced her to defend her own rights and reputation in court, Ms Ficherova decided to establish her own legal practice. It was a challenging time, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, but working with people whose lives depended on her inspired her to give her best.

Lora Andreeva has over a decade of experience in Ingram Micro Bulgaria. She partners closely with business leaders to shape the people agenda, driving talent development, leadership growth, employee engagement, and organizational transformation.

How did Ingram Micro's Sofia office manage to transcend the limitations of traditional operational and customer support functions and to become one of the company's key technological and expert hubs in Europe?

A family-owned company with strong traditions in construction and real estate investment management, and an excellent reputation for its functional, well-executed buildings, IZLAK has been creating strong partnerships and bringing positive change to the urban environment and the lives of hundreds of people for 15 years. Veronika Goranova tells us more.

IZLAK has been on the market for 15 years. Why do clients choose you?

Millions of years ago, a rain of meteorites supposedly brought gold to Earth. Some of the deposits settled in what is now the Rhodope mountain range, around Krumovgrad. A couple of millennia ago, the Rhodope's ancient inhabitants found gold and started digging… In modern times, the remains were further explored to breathe new life into an ancient trade forgotten for centuries. DPM Krumovgrad started investing in a place called by locals Ada Tepe, or Golden Island. It found a promising gold deposit and, following a bumpy road, in 2019 opened the first mine in Bulgaria for over 40 years.

Investing in people’s development and growth, nurturing their potential and guiding them toward realizing their competencies are all signs of good HR practice – one that is capable of uniting care for people with care for a company's success. Branimira Neshovska knows this well, as her professional career exemplifies these principles.

At the age of 14, Dony Vasileva was living in a small village near Yambol when she discovered that she had been adopted. By 16, she had started a family, and by 20 she already had three children… Today, she is an established author and founder of the food supplements brand DONY HEALTH. She is a graduate in applied lin- guistics, political science and diplomacy, speaks five languages and is grandmother to three grandchildren. A truly incredible life!