Christof De Mil, Country Manager of KBC Group in Bulgaria and Chief Executive Officer of UBB was one of the participants in the opening panel of the Green Transition Forum’s Fifth Edition. The biggest event in Central and Eastern Europe, dedicated to transformation was launched on 16 June and will continue until 20 June in Sofia city.

The first panel of the forum explored the following topic: "Road Maps for Economic Growth, Sustainable and Inclusive Progress". Apart from the leader of KBC Group in Bulgaria, opinions were also shared by: Roxana Minzatu, Executive Vice-president of the European Commission, Borislav Gutsanov, Minister of Labour and Social Policy, Krassimir Valchev, Minister of Education, Victor Negrescu, Vice President of the European Parliament, Lucas Mandl, Member of the EU Parliament, and of the Development Committees (DEVE), Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and Legal Issues (JURI), Dimitar Tsotsorkov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Asarel Medet. Panel Moderator was Sergei Stanishev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria (2005-2009), President of PES (2011-2022), Member of the European Parliament (2014-2024).

Christof De Mil presented the position of businesses and of this country’s financial sector, by emphasizing in his speech on the role of human capital for the successful development of Bulgaria and explaining how the entities, part of the biggest banking and insurance group in this country work on its attraction, successful development and long-term realization.

„We are focused on giving people a purpose in several domains. We invest in trainings and in the creation of skills and knowledge along the following lines: Flexibility – winners on today’s labour market are those, who are able to let go of the unnecessary and embrace the new. Nobody can presently do one and the same job for 20 years. We should be flexible and that is what we are focused on. Innovations – we educate our employees that technologies are not a goal per se, but they make people’s lives better and that is why we should implement and develop them. This is the main purpose of innovations, and it is exactly this message that we want our team to deliver in their daily work and while communicating with customers. Sustainability - at our ESG Academy we teach our employees about the importance of sustainable development and the preservation of the environment. It is our priority to make them realize the role of businesses in supporting a sustainable future and finding their place in this process “, he shared.

The work of the second panel of the event, exploring the topic of “Completing the EU Single Market and Reducing Administrative Burdens" involved Aleksandar Peev, General Manager Corporate Social Responsibility at KBC Group Bulgaria. The conversation was also joined by Prof. Manyu Moravenov, Chief Executive Officer of the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE); Anna Pietikäinen, OECD Head of Regulatory Policy Division; Evgeni Angelov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association; Ioanna Konstantopoulou, Vice President of the Hellenic Investors Association; and Tsvetelina Kuzmanova, Senior Project Manager, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Panel Moderator was Kostadin Sirleshtov, Head of Energy and Climate Changes at CMS.

In his speech Aleksandar Peev highlighted three key aspects that could help enterprises be more competitive.

„In order to be better in a strongly competitive world we should, and we do make everything needed to support businesses. КВС Group in Bulgaria aims to contribute to enhancing the sustainability of society and of businesses through its core activities: financing, insuring and investing. It is through UBB and its products that we finance sustainable business projects. Through DZI and its insurance solutions we support businesses in managing their risks. While being focused on entrepreneurship, it is with our products, services and solutions that we support enterprises upon the introduction of innovations, promote investments in sustainable development, carbon footprint reduction and in the preservation of the environment and the biodiversity. All this is an integral part of our sustainable development strategy.“, emphasized Aleksandar Peev.

Green Transition Forum 5.0 has been affirming itself as a large and significant platform for dialogue between the European Commission, national governments, experts, companies and the media. With its fifth edition this forum positions Bulgaria as an active party to the talks about the future of green policies in Central and Eastern Europe and even as an initiator of this debate in the region. The event is being organized by Green Transition Forum, Dir.bg and 3Е-news.net. UBB is among the main partners of this event. The full programme of the event is available here.