The event was organized by AmCham Bulgaria Rule of Law and Legislative Reform Committee and endorsed by the British Bulgarian Business Association, Bulgarian-Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Confindustria Bulgaria, French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, German-Bulgarian Industrial Trade Chamber, Hellenic-Bulgarian Business Council, Swedish Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce, and the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
It was opened by Olivier Marquette, AmCham Bulgaria President. The Caretaker Minister of Justice Krum Zarkov addressed the audience, and the H.E. Herro Mustafa, Ambassador of the United States of America to Bulgaria. The conference welcomed the remarks of other three leaders of diplomatic missions in Bulgaria: H.E. Joel Meyer, Ambassador of the Republic of France to Bulgaria, H.E. Giuseppina Zarra, Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to Bulgaria, Stephan Röken, Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
The keynote speaker was Matthew Murray, Adjunct Professor, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, Harriman Institute; International Expert on Innovating Solutions to Systemic Corruption Then the program continued with two panels: the first one was “Rule of Law and the Reality of the Business Environment in Bulgaria”
The first panel was titled “Rule of Law and the Reality of the Business Environment in Bulgaria” to provide a discussion of rule of law Issues impacting the business environment in Bulgaria. It included: Bogdan Bogdanov, Executive Director, InvestBulgaria Agency, Tsvetan Simeonov, Chairman, BCCI, Boni Bonev, Chairman, Bulgarian Swiss Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Maya Neidenowa, Vice President, German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and Chair, Legal Commission of GBCIC, Ivan Mihaylov, CEO, AmCham Bulgaria, Vessela Todorova-Mosettig, Director, French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. It was moderated by Ruslan Stefanov, Program Director, Center for the Study of Democracy
The next panel was “Rule of Law in Bulgaria: Views and Recommendations from the Lawyer’s Perspective
Panelists were Ass. Prof. Hristo Hristev, Ph.D, Sofia University, Attn. Andrey Yankulov, Senior Legal Expert, Anticorruption Fund, Anti-Corruption Fund, Att. Georgi Atanasov, Member of the Research and Methodology Centre at the Supreme Bar Council, Angel Buzalov, Chair of Legal and Tax Committee, British Bulgarian Business Association, and Att. Domna Mancheva, Member of Legal Committee, Confindustria Bulgaria.
The conference was supported by CIPE – Center for International Private Enterprise, America for Bulgaria Foundation, AG Capital, and iTower Investments.
