BULGARIA INTERVIEWS

Data science has the power to provide invaluable insight for the competitive advantage of businesses.

Margarita Stancheva is one of those people who challenge stereotypes as they breathe: she is young, she runs one of the hottest recruitment agencies on the IT market, she is a young mother and is refreshingly candid when talking about

Perseverance, ambition, enthusiasm to learn and to adapt to the everchanging game are qualities crucial for the success of any company in the competitive IT field. Telelink Business Services is a case in point.

Celebrating 30 years on a market is an achievement for any company in our fast-moving world. This is even truer in the quickly changing and highly competitive field of advertisement and PR. Interpartners, a Bulgarian communication group, has done just that. It started in 1992 as a company for full advertisement services to become an ecosystem of organisations for strategic communication and branding with many loyal and satisfied clients, including some of Bulgaria's top brands.

The interview with Dr Bonka Mutafchiyska, a leading dentist with almost 20 years of practice, was not an ordinary one. We wanted to know more about the personality of the founder of the outstanding Mutafchiyska Dent Clinic, in Plovdiv. We invited her for a leisurely walk along Plovdiv's main street. Surprisingly, it was next to impossible to have our planned introductory conversation. Every couple of steps some local would stop Dr Mutafchiyska to say a brief "Hi," to discuss with her some new local problem or an upcoming event.

The quality of dental professionals in Bulgaria is impressive, but even in this highly competitive field one name stands out. Dr Branimir Kirilov is one of this nation's best implantologists and oral surgeons, and is deservedly recognised as a founder of the Bulgarian school in dental implantology and plastic surgery.

When talking about successful business stories in Bulgaria, M+S Hydraulic PLC is one of the best examples. Based in Kazanlak, in the Valley of Roses and Thracian Kings, it will soon celebrate 60 years on the market. In these years, it has constantly evolved and adapted its activities to stay relevant, both in the pre-1989 planned economy and in the free, globalised market of today as a manufacturer of hydraulic orbital motors and steering units used in wide variety of sectors.

How will technology develop and how will it affect the way we live and do business? This is a tough question that has engaged the brightest minds of our time. Accenture is an organization that does not only consider the subject, but takes active action in implementing the future of technology now. Its concept for the Metaverse Continuum is a spectrum of digitally enhanced worlds, realities and business models that will revolutionize life and enterprise in the next decade.

Euro Games Technology (EGT) is an example of the concept that everything is possible when the right goals are set, and innovation goes together with strategic management and a winner’s mindset.

Established as a local manufacturer in 2002, EGT has grown to a tech-leader in the global gaming and casino industry, selling in five continents in over 100 countries. It has offices in 26 global locations managed by Bulgarians, who have built their careers within the company.

When Tsvetelina Spiridonova, MD, PhD, took over Higia Hospital in early 2019, she had big shoes to fill. Established in 1991 by her father, Professor Stayko Spiridonov, as the first private hospital not only in post-Communist Bulgaria, but also Eastern Europe, Higia was widely respected for the quality of its treatment. Dr Spiridonova was more than prepared for the responsibility to continue pushing forward Higia's brand.

Silvia Veselinova welcomes us to the new offices of Idea Buildings where she is surrounded by smiling colleagues and a multitude of tulips. The construction company she runs has just moved into a new space in a modern office building "to shake up some energy" and to mark the beginning of a new phase in its development.

Giuseppina Zarra is no novice to the Balkans. She is one of the rare breed of diplomats who have made a comeback to Sofia after her initial spell here in the 1990s. Then she served as a first secretary, now she is the host of Italy's palatial embassy on Ruski Boulevard, in the middle of Bulgaria's capital. Zarra's love affair with Bulgaria ranges from literature to music and from history to exploring the hidden treasures of Sofia.

When beautiful and healthy smile is concerned, Dr Neli Djurkova is one of the best specialists around to ask for advice and help. She is the second postgraduate from Bulgaria to study and graduate in the prestigious Faculty of Dental Medicine at the Tel Aviv University, Israel. Now she is mother of three and one of the leading orthodontists in Bulgaria. Dr Djurkova has rich experience in invisible orthodontic treatment and is one of the four Platinum Elite Invisalign Providers in Bulgaria. She works not only in Plovdiv, but also Veliko Tarnovo.

Bulgarian IT industry is the most rapidly developing sector of the local economy. What are the challenges that it faces? What is the climate in which it operates? What changes did it experience in the past 10 years? The answers to these questions, and many more, are crucial for anyone who tries to understand the local market, to make sound investments and to seek the best IT solutions for their organisation.

Florence Robine, the French ambassador to Bulgaria, has spent about two years in the country as most of the time her schedule and activities have been impeded by the varying and changing Covid-19 restrictions. Still, none of those managed to dampen the inquisitiveness of someone with a background in education. Mme Robine has used all opportunities she has had to explore all aspects of Bulgaria: from classical music to travelling in the mountains, to reading Bulgarian literature in translation to visiting the galleries in Sofia.

Increased digitalisation, customised approach, improved data security: banking, which has been a part of civilisation for centuries, is transforming before our own eyes. And a team in Bulgaria has a significant role to play in this change. This is the digital technology division of Commerzbank, the second largest bank in Germany that specialises in financial services to small, mid-size and corporate clients and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2020.

When we arrived at the University of Telecommunications and Posts (UTP) in Sofia, we were aware that we were up for an interesting meeting. For two years now Bulgaria's oldest professional university has been managed by a young and energetic professional. Prof Miglena Temelkova, PhD, is the first female rector of the UTP and is the youngest woman in Bulgaria in such position.

The role that high technologies, AI and their capabilities to make living, travel and business easier, more effective and safer, in our lives is expanding. Charmed by the undeniable advantages, we rarely stop and think how is this all possible. The answer is: thanks to companies like SSARM. Established 10 years ago, SSARM is the fastest developing IT system integrator in Bulgaria. It specialises in supply, installation and integration of IT and communication equipment, hardware and software, and data security, protection and storage solutions.

You need an appointment to enter the elegantly splendid Renée De Clair, a boutique for diamond jewellery and a gemological laboratory on Sofia's Rakovski Boulevard – and this is just the first sign that you are up for an experience without parallel in Bulgaria. Charming and smart, Reneta Tsonkova, founder and owner of Renée De Clair, welcomes you and guides you through the complicated process of selecting the best diamond piece of jewellery for yourself or your significant other.

Energy: the more our civilisation evolves, the more it needs it to sustain itself. With human-induced climate change already happening, clever renewable power is the only solution to save our planet and ourselves. AXPO Group, a Swiss company, has for years been in the frontlines of developing, expanding and perfecting alternative energy sources. From sustainable energy solutions to power purchase agreements and development of state-of-art energy technologies, AXPO Group makes technological and business change possible.