Mariana Kotzeva was appointed Director General of Eurostat on 1 March 2018. She is the first woman at the helm of Eurostat.
Ms Kotzeva joined Eurostat as an Adviser Hors Classe (special adviser) to the Director General in 2012.
Two years later, in 2014, she was appointed Deputy Director-General.
Prior to joining the European Commission, Ms Kotzeva was the Head of Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute.
She also held a number of high-level consulting posts in the Bulgarian and foreign administrations, and led international projects for the United Nations and the World Bank.
Ms Kotzeva has a Master's degree in economics and a PhD in statistics and econometrics. She also has an Executive Education training at Harvard Kennedy School. Ms Kotzeva is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria.