About the BBL Club

History

The Belgium-Bulgaria-Luxembourg Business Club has been established in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 5th of April 2005. The Club is a non-profit organization, that developes its importance as a formal, social and cultural meeting point for legal entities and individuals of Belgian, Bulgarian and Luxembourg origin. The BBL Club is a platform for exchanging business views and experience on the Bulgarian market. Today the BBL in Bulgaria actively promotes business relation between the three countries – Belgium, Bulgaria and Luxembourg.

Mission and purpose

The main purpose of the BBL BC is to bring together representatives of Belgian and Luxembourg businesses on Bulgarian market and vice versa.

To achieve its goals the Club and its members:

  • organize and participate in national and international forums, seminars, meetings, symposia, colloquia and other business events;
  • create and maintain contacts, take part and collaborate with organizations with similar goals and activities in Bulgaria or abroad;
  • inform Belgian and Luxembourg individuals and legal entities about the possibilities of investment and the business opportunities in Bulgaria;
  • express views of Belgian and Luxembourg investors on the Bulgarian business environment and coordinate with other organizations and business representations of other countries for joint actions or positions if considered appropriate.

The most prominent events which the BBL BC organizes are the traditional “Belgian Days in Bulgaria” and the annual business award “Primus Inter Pares”. 

Belgian days

Belgian Days – a tradition that started far in the year of 2006, are now a strong part of the Belgium-Bulgaria relations that encourages links and exchanges between the two countries in the field of business, culture and cuisine. Every year the Belgian Days have been organized by the Belgian-Bulgaria-Luxembourg Business Club under the patronage of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium to Bulgaria.

The events in the program take place under the motto “Fun, Food & …”, which every year has a different focus.

Business Awards Primus Inter Pares

The “Primus Inter Pares” Award was established in 2009 by the BBL BC to recognize the most successful Belgian company investing and developing business in Bulgaria and thus contributing to the development of the business, social, cultural and human relations between Belgium or Luxembourg and Bulgaria.

Every year the theme and the criteria for the Award are different.

All Belgian companies, active on the Bulgarian market and part of the BBL  BC are invited and welcomed to participate in the competition.

President

Mr. Sylvain Collot
Site Manager, Melexis Bulgaria

Sylvain Collot was born in France.

In 1999, he joined Melexis Belgium as product engineer. He moved in 2005 to manage the team of product engineers in Melexis Bulgaria, before taking over the role of Manufacturing Manager in 2007. He became Site Manager of the company’s Bulgarian entity by early 2013  and since 2019, he has held the position of Regional Site Manager for Eastern Europe and Global OPS Strategic Manager.

As of 2024, Sylvain Collot assumes the position of Vice President of Global Operations at Melexis, in charge of overseeing and leading the overall strategy on a global scale for the Melexis Operations. This combined with being Managing Director of XPEQT, Automatic Test Solution provider primarily to Melexis.

Mr Collot is currently President of the Belgium-Bulgaria-Luxembourg Business Club since 2022.

Vice-president

Spiros Nomikos
Managing Director of Solvay Sodi AD Country Manager of the SOLVAY Group for Bulgaria

Spiros Nomikos, citizen of the Kingdom of Belgium, was born in Lubumbashi (Congo). Hejoined Solvay already in 1989 and has worked for the Group in Spain and Greece. From the year 2000 he came to Bulgaria as Finance Director in Solvay Sodi AD, then moved to China with his Bulgarian family for 6 years. In 2012 he came back to Bulgaria, to hold the position of CEO of Solvay Sodi and the Country manager of the Solvay Group. He is married with 3 daughters.

Honorary Member

H.E. Mr. Paul Lambert
Ambassador, Belgian Embassy

Mr. Paul Lambert, the Belgian Ambassador to Sofia, brings a wealth of diplomatic experience, spanning over two decades, as honorary board member of the Belgium Bulgaria Luxembourg Business Club.

With previous postings in Shanghai, Washington DC, Jakarta and Beijing, Mr. Lambert has gained a broad understanding of international relations, diplomatic practices, and economic realities. In addition, as Deputy DG for IT at Brussels HQ, Mr. Lambert gained technical knowledge in the cybersecurity field, bringing various initiatives to an end with high user acceptance.

Recognising the important role that the BBL plays in the strong bilateral relations between our countries, he and his team aims at maintaining the fruitful partnership between the Embassy and the club, offering threefold kind of support through:

  • Meeting and greeting with Belgian/Luxembourg companies and involving them in the activities of the Embassy
  • Offering visibility to Belgian/Luxembourg businesses through attendance to their company events
  • Supporting Belgian businesses facing serious challenges through various appropriate interventions.

Honorary Board Member

Mr. Pierre Annoye
AWEX

CURSUS UNIVERSITAIRE
• 1980 : CANDIDAT EN DROIT, ULB, Bruxelles – avec distinction
• 1983 : LICENCIE N DROIT, UCL , louvain-la-Neuve,– avec distinction
• 1984 : AGRÉGATION POUR L’ENSEIGNEMENT  DU DROIT, UCL,Louvain-la-Neuve

PARCOURS PROFESSIONNEL

• 2020 : Conseiller Économique et Commercial ,Ambassade de Belgique à Bucarest (Roumanie)

• 2017-2020 : Conseiller Économique et Commercial ,Ambassade de Belgique à Panama (Panama)

•2006-2017 : Conseiller Économique et Commercial ,Ambassade de Belgique à Abou Dhabi (Émirats Arabes Unis)

• 2001-2006 : Attaché Économique et Commercial , Ambassade de Belgique à Paris, basé à Montpellier (France)

• 1995-2001 : Attaché Économique et Commercial , Ambassade de Belgique à Beyrouth (Liban)

• 1994-1995 : Attaché Économique et Commercial  ,Consulat  Général de Belgique à Casablanca (Maroc)

• 1992-1994 : Attaché Économique et Commercial, Ambassade de Belgique à Beyrouth (Liban)

•1987-1992 : Attaché  Commercial, Ambassade de Belgique à Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)

•1985-1987 : Juriste au sein de la Direction Générale des Accords Économiques Internationaux  Ministère des Affaires Économiques du Royaume de Belgique, Bruxelles

•1984-1985 : Avocat au Barreau de Bruxelles

 

Honorary Board Member

Mrs. Velichka Terzieva
Head of Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT) Sofia Office

Velichka holds a strong academic background in international business and economics, with a Bachelor’s degree in International Economic Relations from the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from IAE Nantes, France.

With over 13 years of international business experience, Velichka has built a career at the intersection of international trade and investment. For more than nine years, she served as Managing Director of the Bulgarian subsidiary of an international consulting group headquartered in Belgium((NSF) Euro Consultants Group Belgium formerly acquired by NSF International) . In this role, she successfully established the company’s operations in Bulgaria and later expanded its activities into Romania, overseeing business development, client relations, and regional growth.

Since 2021, Velichka has been the Head of Office of Flanders Investment & Trade in Bulgaria, the Flemish government agency responsible for supporting Flemish exporters and attracting investment to Flanders. In this capacity, she actively facilitates bilateral trade relations, advises companies on market entry, and fosters long-term partnerships between Flemish and Bulgarian businesses.

Board member

Georgi Zagorov
Managing Director, Turbotrucks Bulgaria

 

Georgi Zagorov holds a master’s degree in “Economics and Management of Trade” from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia and specialization in “Business Administration and Management” in Belgium.

Georgi is a Managing Director of Turbotrucks Bulgaria, which is DAF Trucks Sales and Service Dealer in Bulgaria. The company is a part of Turbo’s Hoet Group which has got nearly 50 companies in 12 countries.

Currently Georgi Zagorov is also Managing Director of the other companies of the group in Bulgaria – Turbo’s Hoet Bulgaria /sales and remanufacturing of all kind of turbo chargers/ and Turbo’s Hoet Rent /renting of commercial vehicles/.

Georgi is in his 3rd mandate as Board member of BBL Club. He is Chairman of the Commercial vehicles Section and a Vice Chairman of the Management Board of the Association of Automobile Manufacturers and their authorized representatives in Bulgaria /ACM/.

He is married with 2 children.

Treasurer

Boris Krastev
General Manager, IPS Bulgaria

Boris Krastev is the General Manager of IPS Bulgaria since its start (2004), being also the founder and General Manager of IPS Industrial Projects Services Romania Srl. since its creation in 2011. Both companies are part of the international Group-IPS with headquarters in Belgium, which unites a multinational team specialized in providing engineering, procurement and construction management services for large industrial and commercial investments.

Boris holds a Masters degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Architecture, Construction and Geodesy in Sofia, Bulgaria. His career started in 1999 as a Technical Consultant and later on a Technical Director of a Turkish-Bulgarian joint-stock company, where Boris initiated, developed and obtained significant experience in the field of geosynthetics and its applications to big infrastructural and environmentally friendly projects of public and national importance. His professional experience with IPS added success stories related to the management of industrial investments in Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Hungary, Latvia, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

Board Member

Mr. Frank Jansen
UBB
Member of the Country Team of KBC Group for Bulgaria, BoD Member and Executive Director SME Banking of UBB.
As of July 2024, Mr. Frank Jansen has been elected to the position Executive Director SME Banking at UBB. The profuse international career of Frank Jansen as part of the KBC Group team started in 1985, with his assuming a Branch Manager position in KBC Bank, Belgium. Over the next years he consecutively was Executive Director at CSOB in the Czech Republic, and Deputy CEO at Kredyt Bank, Poland.

In 2007 he came to Bulgaria and up until 2019 he held positions as Chief Financial and Risk Officer at CIBANK Bulgaria, Chief Financial Officer of KBC Group in Bulgaria and Executive Director Corporate and SME Banking at UBB.

In 2019 he moved to Ireland where he consecutively held positions as Chief Financial and Product Officer of KBC Ireland and Chief Executive Officer of KBC Ireland.

Frank Jansen holds a Master’s Degree in notarial law from the universities in Antwerp and Leuven, as well as a Master’s Degree in management from the University of Antwerp, and others.

He is fluent in Flemish, English and French, and has oral and written proficiency in German, Bulgarian, Spanish and Polish languages.

Board member

Gert Bernard
Manager, G&V Logistics

Gert Bernard’s first work assignment in Bulgaria is in 1998. During the following years he continues developing his services on flowers transportation between Holland and Bulgaria through his Belgium company.

In 2006 he takes a firm decision to stabilize his business in Bulgaria further. Several years of hard work and valuable experience, he graws to become a fully functioning Bulgarian transport and logistics company, operating under EU norms.

The further goal of Gert Bernard is to develop his business stepping boldly into the next decade and keeping the vital bridge between Belgium and Bulgaria.

Board member

Philippe Schiettecatte
Production Manager, Caroline Biss

Contacts

Business Club Coordinator

Milena Botseva

contact@bblbg.com

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