Session 5 | Financing & Investment in the Energy Transition in Southeast Europe
Access to capital remains the critical enabler — and constraint — for scaling renewable energy and storage in the region. Panellists from development finance, commercial banking, and the legal and advisory sectors will examine current deal structures, risk appetite, and the evolving role of blended finance, green bonds, and DFI instruments in the SEE market.
Moderator
- Konstantin Altandzhiyski · Senior Associate, CMS
Panellists
- Julian Gikov · Managing Director, RBI, Vienna & CEO of Raiffeisen Advisory, Sofia
- Svetlin Pislenski · Associate Director, EBRD
- Nikola Mihajlovic · Senior Investment Officer Infrastructure and Energy, IFC
- Dimitar Dimitrov · Business Development Manager, REIB
14:45 – 15:30
Session 6 | Rewiring the Grid: Batteries, Powerlines & the Flexibility
Southeast Europe is at a crossroads. Unprecedented renewable capacity additions have collided head-on with grid infrastructure bottlenecks, slow interconnection processes, and limited flexibility resources. This panel separates reality from rhetoric: how can the region overcome its infrastructure constraints — through flexibility markets, demand response, and smart grid investment — to remain a credible destination for green capital?
Moderator
- Mariyana Yaneva · Vice-Chair, APSTE
Panellists
- Dimitar Zarchev · Director of the National Dispatch Center, Electricity System Operator, Bulgaria
- Gerhard Schubert · Technical Sales Consultant, SIEMENS
- Johanna Bonilla · Business Development Manager Europe, JINKO ESS
- Tamás Szentirmai · Regional Sales director, PHOTOMATE
- Krum Krassin · Business development & Financial Planning, PROMENERGOMONTAZH
15:30 – 16:00
Wind Case Study Bulgaria – Navigating the New Frontier: Overcoming Barriers to Deliver а Modern Wind Farm
Moderator
- Yordan Stankov · CEO, DMT Prime
Panellists
- Maria Gazulla Par · Sales Manager, Vestas MED
- Rositsa Chopeva · Partner, xFigureFinance
- Rossitsa Voutcheva · Managing Partner, Ilieva, Voutcheva & Co Law Firm
16:00 – 16:30
Afternoon Coffee & Refreshments
16:30 – 17:10
Session 7 | Moving the Market Forward
The competitive frontier in SEE is shifting from megawatts built to megawatts optimised. This forward-looking panel explores how digital platforms, algorithmic trading, and AI-driven energy management are redefining value creation for generators, aggregators, and consumers — and what this means for the market architecture of tomorrow.
Moderator
- Radoslav Mikov · Partner, Wolf Theiss
Panellists
- Giorgos Giannopoulos · COO, Optimus Energy
- Peter Nemcek · CTO, Cybergrid
- Krasimir Velchev · CEO, El Ex Corporation
- Tommi Lehtihuhta · VP Sales, Capalo AI
- Pavel Manolov · Country Manager of Bulgaria, Dunext
17:10 – 17:50
Session 8 | Decarbonisation Strategy in Uncertain Times
Decarbonisation commitments are under pressure across Europe due to rising energy costs and geopolitical volatility. For energy-intensive industries in SEE, the question is not simply how to decarbonise, but how to do so while remaining competitive. This panel brings together industrial offtakers, policy experts, and energy strategists to examine how companies in the region are recalibrating their decarbonisation roadmaps and how the EU’s energy security agenda is reshaping investment decisions.
Moderator
- Anna Vasileva · Editor-in-chief, Renewables Now
Panellists
- Konstantin Stamenov · Chairman, BFIEC
- Sevda Yoncheva · VP Stakeholder Engagement, CWP
- Christos Nakos · Director of Trading Operations Transformation, PPC