41 Facts About Kristalina Georgieva

Kristalina Georgieva is the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the institution.

Kristalina Georgieva began her career by teaching economics, becoming a prominent figure in the field.

Kristalina Georgieva served as Acting President of the World Bank Group in 2019.

At the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva has helped steer the global economy through the COVID-19 pandemic, providing $1 trillion in liquidity and reserves, integrating climate considerations into IMF policies, and increasing financial and policy support to vulnerable countries.

Kristalina Georgieva was reappointed for a second term in 2024.

The investigation found that Kristalina Georgieva instructed staff to alter data to inflate the rankings for China and Saudi Arabia.

Kristalina Georgieva has been hailed for her work on gender equality and climate change.

Kristalina Georgieva is recognized as one of the most influential women globally, ranking 12th on Forbes' List of the Most Powerful Women in 2023.

Kristalina Georgieva's great-grandfather was a prominent Bulgarian revolutionary, Ivan Karshovski.

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.

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

Kristalina Georgieva was one of the first Bulgarian economists to study in the West before the Berlin Wall fell.

Kristalina Georgieva was a post-doctoral research fellow in natural resource economics and environmental policy at the London School of Economics from 1987 to 1988, a Fulbright fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a visiting professor in Fiji at the University of the South Pacific.

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

Kristalina Georgieva joined the World Bank Group in 1993 as an environmental economist for Europe and Central Asia.

In 1997, Kristalina Georgieva helped manage the team that helped phase out leaded gasoline in Central and Eastern Europe.

Kristalina Georgieva was appointed vice president and corporate secretary in 2008.

In January 2010, Kristalina Georgieva announced her intention to resign from this post to join the European Commission.

Kristalina Georgieva's confirmation hearing took place at the European Parliament on 4 February 2010.

Kristalina Georgieva faced questions on her suitability for the portfolio.

Kristalina Georgieva identified Haiti as a priority, especially the need to provide shelter and health services and to restore the functions and services of the government, so as to start work on reconstruction and long-term development.

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

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.

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.

Kristalina Georgieva launched the European Emergency Response and Coordination Centre to strengthen the EU's disaster response capacity by focusing on preparedness and prevention.

Kristalina Georgieva was involved in coordinating the EU response to the earthquake in Chile and the floods in Pakistan.

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.

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.

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

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.

Kristalina Georgieva set up the European Solidarity Corps in December 2016 which replaced the European Voluntary Service.

Kristalina Georgieva worked to increase the representation of women in the commission's senior and middle management.

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

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.

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

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

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

Kristalina Georgieva led the creation of the $40 billion IMF Resilience and Sustainability Trust, and moved to integrate climate into the Fund's work more broadly.

Kristalina Georgieva has increased the IMF's support to members on women's economic empowerment and emerging areas of macroeconomic policy, such as the digitalization of finance and generative artificial intelligence.

On 12 April 2024, Kristalina Georgieva was reappointed by the IMF executive board to serve for a second five-year term.

The investigation found that Kristalina Georgieva instructed staff to alter data to inflate the rankings for China and Saudi Arabia.