Iliana Ivanova

Iliana Ivanova is a Bulgarian politician and economist, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth from 2023.

Born in Stara Zagora. She graduated from Romain Rolland High School in her hometown, where she studied French and English. In 1998, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in international economic relations from the University of Economics in Varna. In 2004, she defended her master’s thesis in international finance at the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona.

She gained diverse experience while working in North American financial and banking institutions. Before that, she worked as a coordinator for international financial institutions in the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Bulgaria.

Iliana Ivanova was an MEP in the European Parliament from 2009 to 2012. During her term in the European Parliament, she was vice-chairman of the Committee on Budget Control, vice-chairman of the Special Committee on Economic, Financial and Social Crisis, deputy- chairman of the delegation of the European Parliament for relations with China, member of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, deputy member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Since January 1, 2013, she has been a member of the European Court of Auditors. On September 21, 2016, she was elected dean of audit team II, responsible for the audit in the field of structural policies, transport and energy. In September 2018, she was elected for a second term as the dean of audit committee II, and in 2023, after the resignation of the Bulgarian European Commissioner Maria Gabriel and her appointment as Deputy Prime Minister, Iliana Ivanova was elected by the Council of Europe as a Commissioner with the portfolio of innovations, scientific research , culture, education and youth

She is fluent in Bulgarian, English, French, German and Russian.