Mariana Kotzeva was appointed Director General of Eurostat by the European Commission. The decision will come into effect on 1 March this year. She is not only the first Bulgarian Director-General in the European Commission but also the first woman at the helm of Eurostat.
Ms Kotzeva held the post of Acting Director-General of Eurostat from 1 January 2017. She joined Eurostat as a special adviser in 2012, becoming its Deputy Director-General in 2014.
Prior to joining the European Commission, Ms Kotzeva was the Head of Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute. She also held a number of high-level consulting posts in the Bulgarian and foreign administrations, and led international projects for the United Nations and the World Bank.
Ms Kotzeva has a Master's degree in economics and a PhD in statistics and econometrics. She is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia.