A discussion, titled “All on Board: Diversity as a Driver of Better Governance”, was held in Sofia on Monday. Organized by the Bulgarian Fund for Women and the French Institute in Bulgaria, the forum focused on amendments to Bulgarian legislation aimed at ensuring at least 33% representation of the underrepresented gender on the boards of publicly listed companies, in accordance with Directive (EU) 2022/2381 of the European Parliament.
During the discussion, Denitsa Velichkova, Deputy Chair of the Financial Supervision Commission, said that the new regulation, aimed at achieving greater gender equality on the boards of publicly listed companies, should not result merely in the creation of fictitious positions out of fear of sanctions.
“When introducing new regulations, the emphasis should not be on sanctions but on partnership in establishing good practices. What we are working to achieve is to promote good practices and prevent bad ones,” Velichkova said.
According to her, the ratio of men to women in corporate management in Bulgaria currently stands at 70% to 30%. She emphasized that the regulator aims to work with publicly listed companies to ensure that the new rules have a tangible impact, rather than merely ensuring compliance with quota requirements.
“There is no need for fictitious positions. These must be positions that lead to real decision-making, genuine transformational leadership, and meaningful access to capital, resources and policymaking,” she said.
Velichkova explained that by mid-2027, the FSC will be required to publicly disclose which companies comply with the new regulations and which do not, while also identifying those that have taken steps toward compliance and specifying the measures they have introduced.
During the discussion, Veselina Panayotova of the Mama Has a Job Foundation defended the regulatory requirements, drawing a parallel with the principles of product distribution. According to her, the first requirement is to establish a quantitative target, which effectively constitutes a quota. Once that target has been achieved, the focus can shift toward quality.
She argued that experience has shown that the higher the penalties, the more seriously businesses take new regulatory requirements.
Panayotova also noted that certain sectors in Bulgaria are predominantly female, meaning the regulation could also benefit men as the underrepresented gender. She cited the retail and education sectors as examples.
In her view, increasing the representation of the underrepresented gender in these sectors could eventually lead to higher wages, helping to narrow the gender pay gap and reduce poverty among women of retirement age.
Olya Peneva of the Bulgarian Foundation for Business and Human Rights expressed cautious optimism that the new requirements would lead to meaningful changes, while acknowledging that implementation would take time.
Drawing on research conducted by her organization, Peneva noted that companies frequently claim to have sustainable policies in place without providing measurable evidence that their objectives have been achieved. She therefore stressed the importance of setting measurable targets.
She also expressed regret that issues such as sexual harassment and workplace harassment receive insufficient attention within Bulgarian companies.
Ahead of the discussion, Nadezhda Dermendzhieva, Co-Director of the Bulgarian Fund for Women, pointed out that women account for just 16% of board members at Bulgaria’s largest publicly listed companies.
She added that women make up only 24% of members of parliament and 28% of ministers in the current government.
“As a society, we still have a great deal of work to do to achieve genuine equality and diversity in all areas of life,” she said.
Anne-Charlotte Montin, First Counsellor at the French Embassy in Bulgaria, briefly outlined the policies implemented in France to promote gender equality in corporate governance.
According to her, changing the composition of the boards of major companies does not, in itself, guarantee a shift in the distribution of power.
She noted that, in the past, women held just one in eight board seats at major French companies, whereas today they occupy nearly half of all seats.
The forum was moderated by Maria Cheresheva of the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria.
Discussion in Sofia Looks at Accelerated Gender Equality on Company Boards THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-26 17:36:39
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