Prof. Milen Baltov, PhD is himself an example of the transition from a business consultant to the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-ups to an academic and researcher in the field. He is high profile expert in evaluation and monitoring of support schemes in variety of technical assistance projects to the public administration, transport and infrastructure and the cross border cooperation programmes.

A graduate (1994) of the University of National and World Economy in Sofia, Bulgaria, he was the first in CEE to draft and defend a PhD dissertation (2000) on the topic of “Management Consulting for SMEs”. For some 25 years he was an expert and a team leader in a capacity building and business promotion projects in almost all the current CEE countries, with best impressions from his missions in Macedonia, Croatia and Kazakhstan.

Prof. Baltov was a Working group leader and Member of the Management Committee of Action TU1003 “Megaprojects” (EU COST Programme) – that dealt mostly with the infrastructure in the business support and transport sectors, and in Action IS1104 “The EU in the new complex geography of economic systems: models, tools and policy evaluation”. Member of the Regional Development Council and the Regional Coordination Committee of the South East Region (R. of Bulgaria).

Prof. Baltov is a Editorial Committee and Management Committee member at the EU COST (Horizon 2020 financed) Action CA16114 "REthinking Sustainability TOwards a Regenerative Economy" (2017-2021). He is a Dep. Chair of a Working group of Action CA17105 "А pan-European Network for Marine Renewable Energy" (2018-2022). Member of the Assembly supporting the activities of the mission(s) for Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters, structured by DG “Research & Innovation”. National coordination for the Black Sea Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, structured by the DG RTD at the EC. EU COST (Horizon 2020 financed) member of the Management Committee of Action CA18236 “Multi-disciplinary innovation for social change" (2019-2023).

For the moment, Prof. Baltov is a Vice Rector of the Burgas Free University and a member of the Programme Committee in the configuration “SMEs and Access to Risk Finance”, under the EU Horizon 2020 Programme.