A 70-year-old Bulgarian woman will head the IMF until 2029 (VIDEO)

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) re-elected the current head of the organization, Kristalina Georgieva, to a second five-year term.

Reportedly, Georgieva was the only candidacy for this post, the decision on her re-election was consensus. “I am very grateful for the trust and support of the Executive Board, which represents our 190 members. I am honored to continue to lead the IMF,” she said.

The Bulgarian economist replaced her predecessor as head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, in 2019. During Georgieva’s first term in office, the International Monetary Fund focused, among other things, on helping countries struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic and later on supporting Ukraine and other states suffering the consequences of Russia’s war of conquest.

In particular, in March 2023, the IMF approved a financial assistance package for Ukraine in the amount of $15.6 billion (14.4 billion euros). The program is part of an even larger international aid package of $115 billion (106 billion euros) that Ukraine is expected to receive over four years.

Kristalina Georgieva was born on August 13, 1953 in Sofia. Her mother was from the city of Lyubimets, and her father was the grandson of a revolutionary and politician from the city of Elena, Ivan Kyrshovsky. She completed her secondary education at the 7th secondary school “Holy Seventh Anniversary”. She received her higher education in the field of political economy and sociology at the Karl Marx Institute (now the University of National and World Economy in Sofia), graduating in 1976. She began her scientific work at the university in 1977, where she subsequently became an assistant professor. In 1986, she defended her doctoral dissertation on “Environmental Policy and Economic Growth in the United States.” She studied economics at the London School of Economics (1987-1988), at the University of the South Pacific (in Fiji) and at the Australian National University, where she attended lectures on countries with economies in transition. She received additional specialization in corporate finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in the World Bank’s human resources training program at Harvard Business School.

In 1993, she began working at the World Bank. From 2000 to 2004, she was Head of Sustainable Development at the World Bank. From 2004 to 2007, she was head of the Russia department, and in March 2008 she became vice president of the World Bank, responsible for issues related to sustainable development.

In October 2016, she resigned as European Commissioner to take up the position of Executive Director of the World Bank on January 2, 2017. On September 25, 2019, Kristilina Georgieva was elected to the post of Managing Director of the IMF, replacing Christine Lagarde.