Mariya Derelieva joined Georgiev, Todorov & Co Law Offices in 2012. Prior to that, Mariya has held expert legal positions in the public administration. During this time, she gained significant experience in the energy sector and litigation.  As an expert in the Legal Department of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (EWRC), she has consulted on the issuance of licenses and price decisions in the electricity sector, and has provided legal representation in numerous appeal proceedings before the Supreme Administrative Court. As a legal expert at the EWRC, she participated in expert groups for legislative changes in relation to the implementation of the European Union’s Third Energy Package in Bulgarian legislation. Maria has worked as a legal counsel at the Ministry of Finance, where she has represented the Bulgarian state in numerous court and arbitration proceedings. In particular, she has specialized in the preparation of the position of the Bulgarian state in the international arbitration disputes, initiated and dealt with under the rules of the International Chamber and Commerce (ICC) and UNICITRAL and the Energy Charter.

The main areas of expertise for Mariya Derelieva are dispute resolution, domestic and international arbitration proceedings, appeals of administrative acts, corporate and commercial law, energy law, and healthcare and pharmaceutical law.

Аt Georgiev, Todorov & Co. Law Offices, she consults clients on corporate and regulatory matters, and as a litigator, she represents clients in court on commercial and administrative cases. More specifically, Maria advises producers of electricity from renewable sources (RES) and from high-efficiency cogeneration in relation to the promotion of preferential prices and bonuses concerning the balancing energy market, provides legal representation in commercial cases for the payment of preferential prices and costs for balancing, as well as in administrative cases which appeal against EWRC acts.

Her professional experience includes the establishment of a subsidiary of the French energy company Dalkia SA, legal representation of the Bulgarian National Bank in administrative cases, representation of medical institutions of the Acibadem City Clinic Group in commercial litigation, legal representation on a case for connection to the electricity transmission network. Attorney Derelieva has taken part in the preparation of a case before the Court of Justice on a preliminary ruling from the Administrative Court Sofia-city on the issue of connection to the electricity distribution and transmission network in accordance with the objectives of Directive 2009/72/EC.

She has also provided successful legal assistance in court to Sofia Municipality and Proshek Immobilien. As consultant, Mariya advises on a daily basis on corporate matters various clients such as Evroskip – leading distributor for cosmetics and perfumery on the Bulgarian market and Comsed – the largest toy store chain on the Bulgarian market.

Our lawyer Maria Derelieva is a recognized practitioner in Energy Law for 2019 and 2020 in the independent international legal directory Chambers and Partners. She is also recommended as a leading individual in Healthcare and Life Sciences for 2018 and a Next Generation Lawyer for 2019 and a Rising Star for 2020 in the Dispute Resolution field in another independent international legal directory – Legal 500.

Mariya is an author of numerous publications:

• The Bulgarian chapter in the Energy sector for 2020 in Lexology – Getting the Deal Through: „Energy Disputes„ Energy-Disputes-2020_Bulgaria_Getting-the-Deal-Through 
• The Bulgarian chapter in: “Global Legal Insights – Energy 2019, Seventh Edition”, contributing editors Philip Thomson & Julia Derrick                                                                                  Global Legal Insights_Energy_2019_Bulgaria
• The Bulgarian chapter in: “Global Legal Insights – Energy 2018, Sixth Edition”, contributing editors Philip Thomson & Julia Derrick                                                                                           Global Legal Insights_Energy_2018_Bulgaria
• “The civil or administrative courts should hear hospitals’ cases against the National Health Insurance Fund for performed medical activity over the set limits?”, legal portal lex.bg
• “How the reduction in the price of gas surprisingly reversed the revenues of traders in favor of the state operator”, legal portal lex.bg, jointly with our lawyer Dobrina Pavlova
• “The law or the payment – the difficult choice before which the NHIF put hospitals because of the limits”, legal portal lex.bg, jointly with our lawyer Margarita Ivanova
• “Contradictions in the practice of issuing a writ of execution against the state”, legal portal lex.bg, jointly with our lawyer Margarita Ivanova

Areas of practice

Corporate and Commercial law
Energy law & Natural resources
Administrative Law and Appeals
Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Law