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Kristalina Ivanova Georgieva-Kinova ( bg, Кристалина Иванова Георгиева-Кинова; ; born 13 August 1953) is a Bulgarian economist serving as managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019. She was the Chief Executive of the World Bank Group from 2017 to 2019 and served as Acting President of the World Bank Group from 1 February 2019 to 8 April 2019 following the resignation of
Jim Yong Kim Jim Yong Kim (; born December 8, 1959), also known as Kim Yong (/金墉), is an American physician and anthropologist who served as the 12th president of the World Bank from 2012 to 2019. A global health leader, Kim was formerly the chair o ...
. She previously served as
Vice-President of the European Commission A Vice-President of the European Commission is a member of the European Commission who leads the commission's work in particular focus areas in which multiple European Commissioners participate. Currently, the European Commission has a total of ...
under Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2016. In 2021, an independent inquiry determined that Georgieva had instructed staff at the World Bank to inflate data to make China look better during her tenure as Chief Executive. However, the executive board of the IMF determined that the investigation “did not conclusively demonstrate” wrongdoing, and expressed confidence in Georgieva's leadership.


Early life and education

Georgieva was born in Sofia into a family of bureaucrats. Her father was a civil engineer who supervised state road-building projects, and her grandfather was a prominent Bulgarian revolutionary, Ivan Karshovski. Georgieva holds a PhD in Economics and an MA in
Political Economy Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour m ...
and Sociology from the Karl Marx Higher Institute of Economics (now called University of National and World Economy) in Sofia. Her thesis was on "Environmental Protection Policy and Economic Growth in the USA". She also did
postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and struc ...
research and studies in natural resource economics and environmental policy at the London School of Economics in the late 1980s and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has written over 100 academic papers and has also authored a microeconomics textbook. Georgieva is fluent in Bulgarian, English, and
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
, and also speaks some French. She held a range of academic and consulting positions in Bulgaria and the US, and has made presentations at the
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...
, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Project ...
, Yale University, Harvard University, London School of Economics, and the University of the South Pacific.


Early work (1993–2010)

Georgieva started her career at the World Bank Group in 1993 as an environmental economist for Europe and Central Asia. Following this, she served in various positions in the bank ultimately rising to become director of the Environment Department in charge of World Bank's environmental strategy, policies, and lending. In this role she oversaw around 60% of lending operations of the World Bank Group. From 2004 to 2007 she was the institution's director and resident representative in the Russian Federation, based in Moscow. She returned to Washington, D.C., to become director of Strategy and Operations, Sustainable Development. Her final position at the World Bank, vice president and corporate secretary, conveyed lead responsibility for liaison with the members of the institution's board of executive directors, representing the bank's shareholders (the member country governments). During that time, she worked on the bank's governance reform and accompanying capital increase.Secretary-General Appoints High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing
United Nations Secretary-General, press release of 21 May 2015.
In January 2010, Georgieva announced her intention to resign from this post in view of her nomination to the Commission of the European Union.


Political career


European Commissioner

; Nomination and confirmation After the former Bulgarian nominee for the post of
European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management The European Commissioner for Crisis Management is a member of the European Commission. The portfolio was previously titled ''Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection''. The post is currently held by Janez Lenarčič. The portfolio ...
, Rumiana Jeleva, came under fire during her confirmation hearing from members of the European Parliament over both her competence and allegations of gaps in her declaration of financial interests, she withdrew her bid. The Bulgarian government then proposed Kristalina Georgieva as their new candidate. On 21 January 2010 the European Commission
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
José Manuel Barroso met with Georgieva and expressed his approval, stating that "Mrs. Georgieva has solid international experience and knowledge with which she is going to contribute significantly in her capacity as a EU Commissioner". The confirmation hearing of Georgieva took place at the European Parliament on 4 February 2010. She faced questions on her suitability for the portfolio. Georgieva identified Haiti as a priority, especially the need to provide shelter and health services and to restore the functions and service of the government, so as to start work on reconstruction and long-term development. Other key issues raised in discussions with MEPs had been improving co-ordination within the EU (and within the commission), and between humanitarian and military players in order to meet the dual challenge posed by expanding needs and shrinking budgets. The need to improve the effectiveness of EU actions and for better response capacity had also been stressed, together with the establishment of European Voluntary Humanitarian Corps. Georgieva was given a warm response by MEPs, with Labour MEP
Michael Cashman Michael Maurice Cashman, Baron Cashman (born 17 December 1950), is a British actor, politician, and LGBT rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, he served as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands from 1999 to 2014. ...
praising her "honesty and deep breadth of knowledge". She was applauded by committee members when she told British
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
MEP Nirj Deva that she would stand up for the interests of the EU and be an independent mind. Ivo Vajgl, a
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and ...
MEP, also praised her, saying: "let me compliment you on your peaceful manner and the confidence you are exuding today". Her performance at the hearing was widely publicized in Bulgaria and broadcast live on many national media, where it was seen as question of restoration of national honor following Jeleva's unsuccessful hearing. The second college of the Barroso Commission, including Georgieva, was approved by the European Parliament on 9 February 2010 by a vote of 488 to 137, with 72 abstentions, and she took office the following day. ; Tenure Georgieva tripled funding for the refugee crisis in Europe.Xin En Lee
"Meet the first CEO of the World Bank: She’s made the bank the strongest it’s ever been financially"
''cnbc.com'', 13 July 2018.
She was involved in coordinating the EU response to the humanitarian consequence of the
2010 Haiti earthquake A catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's cap ...
, the earthquake in Chile and the floods in Pakistan. Amid the Southeast Europe floods in May 2014, Georgieva coordinated post-disaster assistance and helped prepare Serbia's request for aid of as much as 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) a year. In May 2015, United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
appointed her and
Nazrin Shah of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah ibni Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-LahAnbalagan, V. (29 May 2014Raja Nazrin proclaimed as the 75th Sultan of Perak The Malaysian Insider. ( Jawi: ; born 27 November 1956) is the 35th and curre ...
as co-chairs of the High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing, an initiative aimed at preparing recommendations for the 2016
World Humanitarian Summit The United Nations World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) was held in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 23 and 24, 2016. The summit was an initiative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and was organized by the United Nations Office for the ...
.


Vice-President of the European Commission

In 2014, news media reported that the ambassadors of several Western EU countries early on indicated their countries' support for Georgieva to be nominated for the incoming
Juncker Commission The Juncker Commission was the European Commission in office from 1 November 2014 to 30 November 2019. Its president was Jean-Claude Juncker, who presided over 27 other commissioners (one from each of the states composing the European Union, ex ...
, indicating that she might get the post of
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) is the chief co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) within the European Union (EU). The position is currently held b ...
. Her candidacy had been uncertain because of political infighting in Bulgaria. The collapse of the socialist government, however, cleared the path for her nomination. By August, Georgi Bliznashki, Bulgaria's interim prime minister, announced her candidacy to replace Britain's
Catherine Ashton Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, (born 20 March 1956), is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the Europe ...
. Incoming European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker instead assigned the post of Vice-President for Budget and Human Resources to Georgieva, with experienced EU civil servant Florika Fink-Hooijer as her ''
Chef de Cabinet In several French-speaking countries and international organisations, a (French; literally 'head of office') is a senior civil servant or official who acts as an Personal assistant, aide or private secretary to a high-ranking government figure, ...
''. She was thus the most senior technocrat in the Juncker Commission, the only one of the seven vice-presidents never to have served as a national minister. In this role she was in charge of 33,000 staff and reporting on how the
budget of the European Union The Budget of the European Union (EU budget) is used to finance EU funding programmes (such as the European Regional Development Fund, the Cohesion Fund, Horizon Europe, or Erasmus+) and other expenditure at the European level. The EU budget ...
is spent to the European Parliament, the council and the European Court of Auditors. Within months of taking her new position and amid skepticism about the European Union and its budget of around $159 billion reaching new heights, Georgieva was able to negotiate a several-billion-dollar budget increase for 2014.


World Bank

From 1993 to 2010, she served in a number of positions in the World Bank Group, eventually rising to become its vice president and corporate secretary in March 2008. She has also served as a member of the
board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organi ...
and associated professor in the economics department of the
University of National and World Economy The University of National and World Economy ( bg, Университет за национално и световно стопанство) is a university in Sofia, Bulgaria. Notable alumni of the university are five Prime Minister of Bulgar ...
in Bulgaria. On 27 September 2016, the Bulgarian government nominated Kristalina Georgieva for the post of United Nations Secretary-General. Her short run for secretary-general at the UN ended following a vote at the UN Security Council on 5 October, where Georgieva ranked number eight out of ten candidates. In the same vote,
António Guterres António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres ( , ; born 30 April 1949) is a Portuguese politician and diplomat. Since 2017, he has served as secretary-general of the United Nations, the ninth person to hold this title. A member of the Portuguese Soci ...
got the support of the Security Council for the post of UN Secretary-General. On 28 October 2016, the World Bank announced that Georgieva would become the first CEO of the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is an international financial institution, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, that is the lending arm of World Bank Group. The IBRD offers ...
and the
International Development Association The International Development Association (IDA) (french: link=no, Association internationale de développement) is an international financial institution which offers concessional loans and grants to the world's poorest developing countries. T ...
starting on 2 January 2017. On 21 April 2018, it was announced the World Bank shareholders endorsed an ambitious package of measures that include a $13 billion paid-in capital increase, a series of internal reforms, and a set of policy measures that greatly strengthen the global poverty fighting institution's ability to scale up resources and deliver on its mission in areas of the world that need the most assistance. Georgieva played a key role in securing this increase, the largest funding increase in the bank's history. On 7 January 2019, it was announced that World Bank Group President Kim would be stepping down and Georgieva would assume the role of interim president of the World Bank Group on 1 February 2019. On 29 September, Georgieva was named the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund. She was the only nominee for the job and is the first person from an
emerging country The category of newly industrialized country (NIC), newly industrialized economy (NIE) or middle income country is a socioeconomic classification applied to several countries around the world by political scientists and economists. They represent ...
to hold this office. A 2021 independent inquiry of the World Bank's ''Doing Business'' reports by the law firm
WilmerHale Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, also known as Hale & Dorr and WilmerHale, is an international law firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. It is co-headquartered in Washington, D.C. and Boston. It was formed in 2004 thr ...
found that Georgieva instructed staff to alter data to inflate the rankings for China."Georgieva pressured World Bank employees to favor China in report - ethics probe"
''reuters.com'', 16 September 2021.
In October 2021, the International Monetary Fund's executive board initiated an investigations that Georgieva manipulated the Doing Business Report in 2018 during her tenure as World Bank chief. The board later determined that the investigation “did not conclusively demonstrate” that she acted wrongly, and expressed confidence in Georgieva's leadership.


International Monetary Fund

On 29 September 2019, Georgieva was named the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to succeed
Christine Lagarde Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde (; née Lallouette, ; born 1 January 1956) is a French politician and lawyer who has been serving as President of the European Central Bank since 2019. She previously served as the 11th managing director of the ...
(who was leaving to become the head of the European Central Bank's executive board). She was the only candidate for the job, and is the first person from an
emerging economy An emerging market (or an emerging country or an emerging economy) is a market that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future or were ...
to serve in the position. IMF tradition was that candidates could not be older than 65 at the start of their term, but following pressure from
French President The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...
Emmanuel Macron, the rule was waived for Georgieva. Georgieva's term started on 1 October 2019 and will last for five years. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, she joined the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics for Developing Countries, co-chaired by
Tedros Adhanom Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ( ti, ቴዎድሮስ አድሓኖም ገብረኢየሱስ, sometimes spelt ti, ቴድሮስ ኣድሓኖም ገብረየሱስ, label=none; born 3 March 1965) is an Ethiopian public health official, researcher, and ...
and David Malpass, in July 2021.


Other activities


European Union institutions

* European Investment Bank (EIB), member of the Appointment Advisory Committee (since 2017)


Non-profit organizations

*
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
(WEF), Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2020) * Global Commission on Adaptation, co-chair (since 2018) * Generation Unlimited, member of the board (since 2018) *
Paris Peace Forum The Paris Peace Forum is a French non-profit organisation created in March 2018. The organisation hosts an annual gathering of world leaders and heads of international organisations, as well as leaders from civil society and private sectors and ...
, member of the steering committee (since 2018) * European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), member of the council *
University of National and World Economy The University of National and World Economy ( bg, Университет за национално и световно стопанство) is a university in Sofia, Bulgaria. Notable alumni of the university are five Prime Minister of Bulgar ...
, member of the board of trusteesKristalina Georgieva: Declaration of interests
European Commission.
* Women Political Leaders Global Forum (WPL), member of the global advisory board * China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), honorary member (2012) * Institute for Sustainable Communities, member of the board of trustees (2003–2005) * LEAD International, member of the board of trustees (2003–2009)


Recognition

In 2016, Georgieva was honored with the Devex Power with Purpose award for her work in global development. In 2017, Georgieva was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 2 in the list of 100 Most Influential People in Multinational Organisations. She has been awarded the Princess
Marina Sturdza Marina Nicole Sturdza (25 April 1944 – 24 October 2017) was a Romanian princess and humanitarian activist. Early life Marina Nicole Sturdza was born a princess in Romania on 25 April 1944, in Brasov, Transylvania. Both of her parents came fro ...
award, and the
Foreign Policy Association The Foreign Policy Association (formerly known as the League of Free Nations Association) is a non-profit organization founded in 1918 dedicated to inspiring the American public to learn more about the world. The Foreign Policy Association aims to ...
Medal. In 2020, Georgieva was named on '' Time''s list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2022, Kristalina was awarded by Forbes as one of the 50 over 50 women leading the way throughout Europe, the Middle East and
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.


Personal life

Georgieva is married and has one daughter.


References


Bibliography

*


External links


Kristalina Georgieva
Official Media Gallery
Kristalina Georgieva on the World Bank website
*
Official blog
* , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Georgieva, Kristalina Bulgarian women economists 20th-century Bulgarian economists 21st-century Bulgarian economists Environmental economists Microeconomists Managing directors of the International Monetary Fund World Bank Group people European Commissioners 2014–2019 Women European Commissioners Bulgarian European Commissioners 21st-century Bulgarian women politicians 21st-century Bulgarian politicians Bulgarian politicians Politicians from Sofia University of National and World Economy alumni 1953 births Living people