Team
Dr. Momchil Stanishev, Ph.D
Director of the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European countries
Mr. Stanishev holds a Doctorate in Organizational Psychology, as well as a Master’s degree in International Relations with a specialization in International Organizations and Multilateral Diplomacy from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. He completed his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Organization of Labour at the University of National and World Economy. Dr. Stanishev also studied at the University of Porto, Portugal, where he specialized in Psychology and Management. In addition, he graduated the Strategic Management Course at Rakovski National Defence College. He upgrades his qualifications with training for executives from CEE at the Lech Kaczyński National School of Public Administration, Poland.
He has extensive professional experience in the field of international cooperation, work on foreign economic issues, realization of business opportunities in the country and promotion of the investment climate, acquired in the private and public sector, including also expertise in this field from working in non-governmental organizations.
Apart from this, he has also coordinated a number of international business forums and conferences on topics related to change management and leadership, sectoral cooperation, as well as start-ups development.
He is also the initiator of the first “Accelerator Program for start-ups in the field of agriculture between China and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe” and “Academy for entrepreneurship in agriculture”.
Dr. Stanishev has extensive experience in the implementation, management and coordination of research and practical projects under European programs. He is author of articles, publications and researches in the field of leadership, development of startups and organizational changes, both in the country and abroad.
Dr. Iva Venkova
Expert at the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries
Iva Venkova has obtained her Master’s Degrees in International Relations from Sofia University, Faculty of Law, and in Advanced European and International Studies from the European Institute (CIFE) in Nice, France, as well as a Ph.D. in history from Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’. She has also participated in an international research student programme at Tokyo University, Japan, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics.
Iva Venkova has spent most of her career in the public sector, with a focus on international economic cooperation. She has been involved in activities connected with trade and investment promotion, researching the local business environment and government policies in various economic sectors, organizing official visits, delegations and participations in Bulgaria and abroad, business events and public lectures, preparing agreements, etc. She has also worked as a clinical trial project support coordinator and has participated in seminars in China.
Her professional interests are focused on international economic relations. She has a good command of English, Japanese and French and working knowledge of German.
Zahari Zahariev
International Cooperation Expert at the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and the Central and Eastern European Countries
Zahari Zahariev is 24 years old and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Sofia University. He is currently continuing his education with the Master’s Program European Projects at the same university.
Zahari gained experience in the non-governmental sector, developing his skills in social media management, organising and hosting events and communication with partners. He has successfully completed several internships in different structures of the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the Diplomatic Institute and Southeast Europe Directorate.
Zahari has keen interest in Bulgarian bilateral and multilateral relations with the Central and Eastern European countries, in particular Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Balkan States. Zahari is interested in public and railway transport, its modernization with European funds and the transport connectivity between EU Member States, the Western Balkans and China.
He speaks English and German.
Viktor Gadzhalov
Associate at the Association for the Promotion of Agricultural Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries
Viktor Gadzhalov holds a master’s degree in International Relations from Shandong University in China, and also holds a specialization in empirical Political Science from the Central European University, Budapest, and a certificate in Comparative Political Science from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. He completed his bachelor’s degree at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, major in “Political Science” with a focus on Political theory. He went through specialized courses on learning Chinese language in Bulgaria in 2014-2015 at the Confucius Institute, Sofia and in Business Chinese at the Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China in the period from 2015 to 2020.
He has professional experience in export, regulations, certifications, customs regimes gained while working in factories producing electrical components and cables and infrastructure construction companies in China. Apart from that, he has extensive experience in the field of international cooperation, work on negotiations on behalf of a client, preparation and conduct of business trips and organization of business visits, simultaneous translations, customs representation.
Viktor Gadzhalov is a certified customs representative at NSBS, Sofia and has experience in working with statistical software.
