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Elitsa Ivanova

Partner
Head of Finance

Contact
CMS Sofia
Landmark Centre
14 Tsar Osvoboditel Blvd.
Floor 1, 2
1000 Sofia
Bulgaria
Languages English, Bulgarian

Elitsa Ivanova is a dual English and Bulgarian qualified partner in the International Finance team of CMS and head of the Finance practice at CMS Sofia, with more than 15 years of professional experience in the sector. She has been advising clients active in the CEE and CIS on a  variety of transactional, restructuring and regulatory matters, with a particular focus on syndicated lending. 

Elitsa brings in-house experience having been seconded in leading financial institutions in London and Amsterdam. In 2012/2013, she completed a secondment at UniCredit Bank AG, London Branch as part of their CEE Loans Syndication Team and in 2014, another secondment at Deutsche Bank, Amsterdam Branch, working on structured commodities and trade finance transactions as part of their Loan Documentation team. 

Elitsa regularly acts as lead counsel on complex cross-border English law-governed financing transactions for a variety of clients including commercial banks, international finance institutions and corporates. She specialises in trade and structured commodity finance, and leads the CMS sector specialisation team in commodity finance.

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Relevant experience

  • UniCredit, Raiffeisen and Sberbank on USD 250 million hybrid pre-export facilities for GeoProMining, a Russian/Armenian gold mining company.
  • OTP Bank Group on its acquisition of Societe Generale subsidiaries SG Expressbank Group, Sogelife Insurance Company, and SG Banka Albania, for over EUR 600 million in several jurisdictions, including Bulgaria, Albania and Serbia. In Bulgaria DSK Bank acquired indirect control over Societe Generale Expressbank's units Societe Generale Factoring, Sogelease Bulgaria and Regional Urban Development Fund, as well as direct control over insurer Sogelife Bulgaria. The CMS Sofia Banking & International Finance team was instrumental in the due diligence process of the target Societe Generale Expressbank and assisted with the structuring and regulatory advice.
  • Major international finance institutions, in their capacity as senior lenders, on the financing of three mall operating companies in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, to refinance existing liabilities and provide capex facilities to be used for the expansion and upgrade of the properties.
  • Major Greek banks, as mandated lead arrangers, and their local subsidiary banks, on the financing of the development and operation of the Sofia South Ring Mall in Sofia, Bulgaria, including development, investment and VAT facilities, and on a full security package.
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Education

  • Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Law, LLM (1999 – 2004)
  • Between September 2009 – January 2010, she participated in the Building on Talent Programme of IMD, the leading business school in Lausanne, Switzerland
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23/05/2023
Sustainability KPIs in finance transactions
Sus­tain­ab­il­ity-linked financing is still in its infancy, but it is already an integral part of today's financing landscape and looks set to remain into the future. Plenty of data and information exists, particularly on the KPIs of sus­tain­ab­il­ity-linked financings, but it is scattered. In this guide we have compiled, analysed and commented on all aspects of sus­tain­ab­il­ity-linked financing to give you access to everything you need to know.
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1. Which financial (not tax or labour) short-term compensation schemes for immediate losses due to social distancing measures have been implemented? For which industries/sizes of business? According...
13/07/2020
Bulgaria joins ERM II
On 10 July 2020, Bulgaria joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II) together with Croatia. This comes more than two years after Bulgaria expressed its firm intention to join the ERM II and...
01/07/2020
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29/05/2020
Loan Agreements in CEE/CIS: Force Majeure and Payment Moratoria
We are pleased to launch a summary of some of the implications for loan agreements in finance transactions carried out across the CEE/CIS region. With significant focus on Covid-19 impact across a range...
14/04/2020
The Bulgarian National Bank approves sector-wide voluntary moratorium
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