OMV BULGARIA
Petar Velichkov is, as of September 1, responsible for the OMV chain of petrol stations in Bulgaria in addition to his current position as wholesale sales director for Petrom SA in Romania. Petrom is part of the OMV group. Velichkov started work at OMV in 1999, when the company entered Bulgaria. After Petrom was privatised, and after OMV took at 51 per cent share in the company, Velichkov took over responsibilities as director of wholesale sales at Petrom. As director of OMV petrol stations for Bulgaria, his goals include continuing with the high quality of products and services offered at OMV stations. He has a master's degree from Bourgas Free University.

BACCHUS
As of August, Albena Shkodrova is the new Editor-in-Chief of Bacchus, the Bulgarian magazine for wine and gourmet cuisine and culture. She brings to the publication an aspect of gourmet tourism, fitting, given her role as the creator of Balkantravellers.com and former editorial positions at Bulgaria Air's Inflight and HighFlights magazines; she has also been a correspondent for Radio Free Europe and a contributor to the magazine Foreign Policy - Bulgaria. Until June 2008, she was the director of the Bulgarian office of Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. Shkodrova has degrees in Bulgarian and Slavic philology and international relations from Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, and specialised in the politics and economy of the European Union at the London School of Economics. Bacchus is part of the Economedia group, the majority shareholder in Sofia Echo Media.

ERNST & YOUNG BULGARIA
John Mystakidis has been appointed country managing partner for Ernst & Young Bulgaria; he replaces Panos Papazoglou, who has joined Ernst & Young's Romania executive team. Before taking the position in September, Mystakidis was a partner in the assurance and advisory business services of Ernst & Young in Athens, where he led the international financial reporting standards technical desk. His degree is in business administration, with a specialisation in finance and accounting. Mystakidis is a certified public accountant (Greece) and a member of the Technical Board of the Greek Association of Certified Public Accountants (SOEL). He also has also a wide range of experience in supervising audits, due diligence reviews and other related professional services of major Greek and multinational companies in various industries. His primary line of expertise in terms of industry is construction, real estate and utilities companies.