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Raytcheva Maria

Director Energy Cooperation, Directorate Ministry of Energy

Civil engineer with more than 35 years of experience;

Experience
15 years of which in Balkancarproject as a Team leader of a group for design and calculations of industrial and public facilities of all types of constructions on 65 sites in Bulgaria;

In the period August 1991 – March 1992 working in Ingenieurbüro für Baustatik und Baukonstruktionen, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany as Designer - Design of building constructions of mass concrete and steel.

Since 1994 working in the state administration - Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs dealing with international programmes and projects funded by the EU – centralized implementation system, World Bank, Trust funds, UNDP, etc. The major project implemented till 2005 where I was a Senior Procurement Officer of the Project Management Unit was Child Welfare Reform in Bulgaria, financed by World Bank loan of 8.8 MEUR, 2 Japanese grants under trust funds 2 MEUR, also administered by the WB, Twinning co-project for 2 MEUR with Austrian advisers and Phare Technical Assistance co-project, financed by the EC, DFID assistance, Swiss assistance and Bulgarian financing;  

Working for the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy till 2010 as a Head of Tendering and Contracting Department in the accredited for Extended Decentralised Implementation System by the EC - Phare Implementing Agency (prior the Accession) and in the Managing Authority of the Operational Programme Human Resource Development in the fields of employment, labour, social assistance, social inclusion, health, education and professional qualification – more than 850 grant contracts and more than 100 procedures under Phare (PRAG) and national public procurement law for works, goods and services were contracted and implemented; 

Working part time as a second job (2003 – 2005) as a Contract Manager in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Resources for the implementation of 3 projects, administered by the World Bank – Establishment of the Bulgarian Energy Efficiency Fund (BEEF) (GEF financing) and accompanying by Preparatory project, financed by a Trust Fund and Sustainable Use of the Geothermal Resources in Bulgaria, financed by a Trust Fund as well;

Since 2010 working for the Ministry of Economy and Energy as Head of Energy Efficiency Department and later as a Head of European and Regional Energy Cooperation Directorate dealing and with projects, mainly under Kozloduy International Decommissioning Support Fund, non-nuclear window financed by the EC and 15 states – contributors and members of the Assembly. The KIDSF is administered by the EBRD. In this respect the ministry is responsible for the implementation of projects directly implemented by the ministry and another projects implementing by the state energy joint stock companies but supported by the ministry and government. In 2013 as Head of Delegation were defended in front of the Assembly of Contributors for the non-nuclear window the last 5 projects in the amount of 46 MEUR, which are currently under implementation.  The applicable rules are those of the EBRD. In addition working for the defense and implementation of a Programme BG 04 “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy” in the amount of 15MEUR financed by the European Economic Area Grants Financial Mechanism in partnership with the Norwegian Water and Energy Regulator;  

In the period of June 2012 till March 2013 (unpaid leave from the ministry) working for the Republic of Turkey, Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Operational Programme Human Resource Development (IPA financing) as a Tendering expert in the Procurement Unit of EU Coordination Department after International selection procedure for Individual experts (usually 3 year contract but upon the request of the Bulgarian minister the contract was terminated in advance). There was involved in preparation of tender documentation for supplies and technical assistance procedures under PRAG, participation in the evaluation, advising staff on procurement issues, drafting guidelines for applicants for grant schemes. In this period their first tender for supply was approved, launched and contracted.

Since 01.01.2015 – working in the Ministry of Energy as Head of Energy Cooperation Directorate dealing with all EU issues, including infringement procedures in energy sector and international and bilateral cooperation related to energy, projects of common interest, etc. Continuing the work under the Programme BG04 as a Team Leader and National Contact Point for the Programme. Continuing to be Chairperson of the Working Group under Technical assistance for the EBRD contracted project: „KIDS Fund – Opening the Market for Private ESCOs”. The main purpose of the working group is to find out the obstacles, including legislative, for the implementation of ESCO (energy performance) contracts and to propose changes in the legislation. Based on its work the Bulgaria Public Procurement Act was amended. 

Other Positions and activities:
Member of the BEEF Management Board – 2011 – 2013
Member of the Working group that developed Green Procurement Action Plan for Bulgaria, submitted to the EC
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Responsible for the team of infrastructure experts for monitoring the implementation of 22 works contracts under Phare PRAG, FIDIC and Bulgarian law and another 352 grant contracts with infrastructure components all over the country.
Provision of trainings on public procurement, secondary procurement and implementation of projects for the staff and Beneficiary organisations.

Elaboration of operations manuals for the IA and MA – part procurement, sub-contracting and monitoring of infrastructure projects, audit trails

Elaboration of Operations manual - part procurement, for “Social Inclusion” Project financed by the World Bank Loan – USD 40,000,000, to be implemented by the MLSP – Bulgaria with beneficiaries – municipalities

Monitoring of infrastructure implementation for 2 cross-border grant projects with Greece, managed by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works - BG 2003/005-630-03 “Cross-border Employment Initiative” and BG2004/016-782.01.06 “Promotion of Cultural, Tourist and Human Resources in the Cross-Border Region” – total 40 grant contracts

Participation in the task force on Green Energy – Black Sea Economic Cooperation

Participation in the Group of Experts on Energy Efficiency to the UN Economic Commission for Europe, Committee on Sustainable Energy

More important Qualifications:
June  2010 and September 2010 (2 weeks) - Regional Environmental Center, Venice International University, Istanbul Bilgi University, Italian Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea, Turkey (Istanbul) and Italy (Venice) - Partnerships for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Public Policies and Business Practices for Black Sea Countries in the fields of Environment, Energy and Social issues (Certificate of Participation)

February – May 2008 (3 months) - Centre for Public Procurement, Centre for Vocational Qualification, Bulgaria - Distance learning course on the Bulgarian Public Procurement - Diploma for part of profession “Economics”

April – May 2004 (3 weeks) and September 2001 (3 weeks), International Labour Office – International Training Centre, Turin, Italy - 1. Procurement of Works (WB/EU projects), FIDIC and 2. Public Procurement Management (WB/EU projects) including Procurement process, standard tender/bidding documents, EU Regulations and Directives, evaluation documents, methodologies for evaluation, requirements, eligibility and award criteria, claims/appeals, FIDIC type of contracts – general and particular conditions, adjudication, fee based/time based and lump sum/global price types of contracts, Incoterms, case studies, etc. - two Diplomas

August - September 1998 (1 month) - Institute for Public-Private Partnerships – Washington, D.C., USA - Public-Private Partnerships for City Revitalization - Certificate of Achievement
September 1994 – November 1994 (3 months) - University for National and World Economics, Marketing and Strategic Planning Department, Bulgaria - Course on “Company Management, Strategic planning, marketing, accountancy, finance, business communications, negotiations, computer literacy, etc. - Diploma for completed post-graduation course on “Company Management” - Dipl. Manager

Languages – English, French, Russian, German, some Turkish and basic Norwegian