40 Facts About Kristalina Georgieva

1.

Kristalina Georgieva 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 to 8 April 2019 following the resignation of Jim Yong Kim.

2.

Kristalina Georgieva previously served as Vice-President of the European Commission under Jean-Claude Juncker from 2014 to 2016.

3.

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.

4.

Kristalina Georgieva was born in Sofia into a family of bureaucrats.

5.

Kristalina Georgieva's father was a civil engineer who supervised state road-building projects, and her grandfather was a prominent Bulgarian revolutionary, Ivan Karshovski.

6.

Kristalina Georgieva holds a PhD in Economics and an MA in Political Economy and Sociology from the Karl Marx Higher Institute of Economics in Sofia.

7.

Kristalina Georgieva's thesis was on "Environmental Protection Policy and Economic Growth in the USA".

8.

Kristalina Georgieva did postgraduate 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.

9.

Kristalina Georgieva has written over 100 academic papers and has authored a microeconomics textbook.

10.

Kristalina Georgieva is fluent in Bulgarian, English, and Russian, and speaks some French.

11.

Kristalina Georgieva held a range of academic and consulting positions in Bulgaria and the US, and has made presentations at the Australian National University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tsinghua University, Yale University, Harvard University, London School of Economics, and the University of the South Pacific.

12.

Kristalina Georgieva started her career at the World Bank Group in 1993 as an environmental economist for Europe and Central Asia.

13.

Kristalina Georgieva returned to Washington, DC, to become director of Strategy and Operations, Sustainable Development.

14.

In January 2010, Kristalina Georgieva announced her intention to resign from this post in view of her nomination to the Commission of the European Union.

15.

On 21 January 2010 the European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso met with Kristalina Georgieva and expressed his approval, stating that "Mrs Kristalina Georgieva has solid international experience and knowledge with which she is going to contribute significantly in her capacity as a EU Commissioner".

16.

The confirmation hearing of Kristalina Georgieva took place at the European Parliament on 4 February 2010.

17.

Kristalina Georgieva faced questions on her suitability for the portfolio.

18.

Kristalina 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.

19.

Kristalina Georgieva was given a warm response by MEPs, with Labour MEP Michael Cashman praising her "honesty and deep breadth of knowledge".

20.

Kristalina Georgieva was applauded by committee members when she told British Conservative MEP Nirj Deva that she would stand up for the interests of the EU and be an independent mind.

21.

The second college of the Barroso Commission, including Kristalina 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.

22.

Kristalina Georgieva was involved in coordinating the EU response to the humanitarian consequence of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the earthquake in Chile and the floods in Pakistan.

23.

Amid the Southeast Europe floods in May 2014, Kristalina Georgieva coordinated post-disaster assistance and helped prepare Serbia's request for aid of as much as 1 billion euros a year.

24.

In 2014, news media reported that the ambassadors of several Western EU countries early on indicated their countries' support for Kristalina Georgieva to be nominated for the incoming Juncker Commission, indicating that she might get the post of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

25.

Kristalina Georgieva's candidacy had been uncertain because of political infighting in Bulgaria.

26.

Kristalina Georgieva 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.

27.

Kristalina Georgieva has served as a member of the board of trustees and associated professor in the economics department of the University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria.

28.

On 28 October 2016, the World Bank announced that Kristalina Georgieva would become the first CEO of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association starting on 2 January 2017.

29.

Kristalina Georgieva played a key role in securing this increase, the largest funding increase in the bank's history.

30.

On 7 January 2019, it was announced that World Bank Group President Kim would be stepping down and Kristalina Georgieva would assume the role of interim president of the World Bank Group on 1 February 2019.

31.

Kristalina Georgieva was the only nominee for the job and is the first person from an emerging country to hold this office.

32.

In October 2021, the International Monetary Fund's executive board initiated an investigations that Kristalina Georgieva manipulated the Doing Business Report in 2018 during her tenure as World Bank chief.

33.

On 29 September 2019, Kristalina Georgieva was named the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund, to succeed Christine Lagarde.

34.

Kristalina Georgieva was the only candidate for the job, and is the first person from an emerging economy to serve in the position.

35.

Kristalina Georgieva's term started on 1 October 2019 and will last for five years.

36.

In 2016, Kristalina Georgieva was honored with the Devex Power with Purpose award for her work in global development.

37.

In 2017, Kristalina Georgieva was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 2 in the list of 100 Most Influential People in Multinational Organisations.

38.

Kristalina Georgieva has been awarded the Princess Marina Sturdza award, and the Foreign Policy Association Medal.

39.

In 2020, Kristalina Georgieva was named on Times list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

40.

In 2022, Kristalina Georgieva was awarded by Forbes as one of the 50 over 50 women leading the way throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa.