Eng. Lachezar Tsotsorkov, PhD - Executive Director
Education
He graduated in Lifting Transportation, Building and Mining Equipment at the Technical University (High Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) in Sofia. He has undergone specializations in marketing and management in Bulgaria, Austria, and Japan.
Professional experience
Lachezar Tsotsorkov started his working and production activity in the Repairs Mechanical Shop of the Medet Mining and Processing Complex in 1971 as a scholarship student of the company. He was a director of the Oborishte Plant (today Yana) in the town of Panagyurishte from 1979 to 1986 where he initiated building of new capacities and plant modernization.
In 1986 he took the position of General Director of Assarel-Medet. His personal initiative, professionalism, organizational skills and dedication to work were crucial for the successful building and commissioning of the new capacities of the Assarel Mine and Concentrator Plant – one of the most outstanding industrial sites in the country in the determining year 1989.
In 1991 he took the position of Executive Director of Assarel-Medet Sole Ltd. In 1998 together with his colleagues and the majority share of the Austrian company Voest Alpine Intertrading he founded Assarel-Invest JSC which performed the first privatization in the Bulgarian mining industry in 1999. He was elected an Executive Director of Assarel-Medet JSC in the same year. Under his management the company has been restructured and modernized applying the best European and world practices, Today the company is among the largest and most dynamically developing Bulgarian industrial enterprises as it traditionally produces the highest volume of mined material in Bulgarian ore mining and it processes about 13 mln tones copper ore every year. Thanks to the far-sighted management more than 300 mln leva were invested in projects for modernization and environment protection after the privatization.
In his capacity of Executive Director Dr. eng. Lachezar Tsotsorkov initiated the implementation of an Integrated Management System in Assarel-Medet. In 1999 the company received the first in the Bulgarian mining industry certificate for quality in compliance with the ISO 9001 Standard and in 2002 it was awarded the first certificate in the country for environment protection according to the ISO14001 Standard . The first in the Bulgarian heavy industry Integrated Management System for quality, environment protection and occupational safety in compliance with the international standards ISO 9001, ISO 14 001 and OHSAS 18 001 was implemented in the mining and processing complex.
His vision of a manager for the future lies is a reason for the granted to Assarel-Medet Certificate in 2005 for First Class Investor for the large-scale project for modernization of the operations capacities at the amount exceeding 100 mln. US Dollars.
In 2006 the company was honored with the Ikar prize for innovations by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce due to the implemented state-of-the-art equipment and technologies.
In 2007 the company was announced as Investor of the Year in the mining industry by the Bulgarian Investment Agency and as Investor in Environment by the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum.
Having been distinguished as one of the best Bulgarian employers in the national poll by Hewitt in 2007, in 2008 the company was acknowledged as one of the best employers in the regional study in Central and Eastern Europe.
With his manifesting leader’s skills Dr. Eng. Lachezar Tsotsorkov motivates his team of 1300 professionals to adhere to the corporate mottos: “To start first means to be on time” and “ From Nature to people and from people to Nature”.
Social Activity
In 1991 Lachezar Tsotsotkov was among the founders of the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology and so far he has constantly been re-elected for its chairman.
Since 1992 he has been involved in the activities of the Managing Council of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Club.
During the period 2005 - 2006 he was the first chairman of the Managing Council of the newly established Srednogorie Med Industrial Cluster, town of Pirdop.
He is among the constitutors and the first chairman of the Alliance of Entrepreneurs, Panagyurishte.
Since 2000 he has been a member of Rotary Club, town of Panagyurishte.
As Executive Director of Assarel-Medet JSC and chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Mining and Geology he is actively involved in the activities of the UN Global Compact in Bulgaria, the European Business Congress and a number of business associations and non-governmental organizations.
Scientific Activity
Dr. eng. Lahezar Tsotsorkov is a member of the International Organizing Committer at the World mining Congress, Warsaw. He participates in the Management Councils of the Scientific and Technical Union in Mining, Geology and Metallurgy of the Bulgarian National Mining Committee since 1994. He also published a book and defended a doctoral thesis on topic Foundations of Corporate Culture in Mining and Processing Complexes in 2000.
He is an actual member of the National Academy of Mining Resources, Moscow, actual member of the International Academy of Environment and Labor Safety, St. Petersburg, foreign member of the Russian Mining Academy, Moscow and for a member of the Carl Duisberg International Foundation, Köln, Germany.
He has a lot of publications in Bulgarian and foreign scientific and technical magazines as well as registered patents and rationalizations.
Awards
As a person and business leader Dr. eng. Lachezar Tsotsorkov is a holder of a number of national and international awards and he has the major merit for more than 30 prestigious awards of the company managed by him.
In 2005 he received the title Honorary Citizen of Panagyurishte due to his personal contribution to the development of the municipality. г
By Decree No. 301 from July 19, 2006 by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria he was honored with the highest state award “Stara Planina – First Rank” for exclusive merits to the Republic of Bulgaria.
Foreign Languages
He speaks English and Russian