Charlina Vicheva, takes over Wednesday as head of section at the EC Directorate General for Regional Policy, the first time a Bulgarian has taken a top position in the European Council.
Many Bulgarians work in different EU institutions but none of them had taken a director's post until now. Vicheva will be in charge of the implementation of the operative programs in seven EU countries: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark.
The EU has allotted EUR 75-80 B to the directorate, a sum that should be absorbed by 2013.
It is expected that in a month another Bulgarian will also sit in a EC director's chair. His name is Mario Milushev who currently works at the Bulgarian representation with the EU.
Milushev will head the European Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development in charge of communications with the European Parliament.