Alexander Pulev, deputy prime minister and minister of economy, investment and industry, has named the new supervisory board of the Bulgarian Development Bank (BDB). Delyana Ivanova stays on as chair, while Ivan Kutlov, Ivan Raichkov and Daniel Berg join as new members.

Ivan Kutlov has worked in banking since 1991 and has lived through four serious crises in Bulgaria. Ivan Raichkov ran banking operations at UniCredit Bulbank for more than 15 years. Daniel Berg, a former director for Bulgaria at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, joined the announcement from the US. Pulev said Berg will put his contacts and experience in Bulgaria and the region to use.

"As a board member, I will act with independent judgment and full commitment to the bank's goals," Raichkov said. He believes good oversight means combining the bank's financial stability with support for business and regional growth.

Berg named three areas where he thinks the board can help: closer ties between the public and private sectors, new ways to fund projects, and a smoother operating process. He said the bank has room to work better.

Ivanova said the bank's priority remains drawing in strategic investment to create growth and jobs. She added that the bank will keep running its programs to help farmers team up, as well as its support for small and medium businesses through loan guarantee schemes with commercial banks.

Pulev said the bank is now at the center of the government's economic policy. "We're working on strategic, high-value sectors," he said, adding that a new unit at the ministry will cut red tape so investors can plan their business better. He said new tools are coming for farmers to help them compete with imported produce and get their goods into supermarket chains, along with new processes for food processing, strategic investment and attracting foreign investors.

The ministry of economy, investment and industry has now brought together all the units, banks, agencies, directorates and bodies in the sector, and a new joint coordination unit has been set up between the relevant government departments. A few days ago the ministry signed a memorandum with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on cooperation in public-private partnerships.

Pulev announced a plan to raise the bank's capital by more than 1 billion euros, on market terms and without hitting the budget. He said the bank's new financial framework will still need to be worked out in light of this change.

Pulev said the caretaker government under Andrey Gyurov cut the bank's capital, and that move caused chaos, leaving the funds stuck "in limbo" — unusable by either the finance ministry or the bank itself. He called the funds critical and said work still needs to be done to figure out how to free them up.