Desislava Kalcheva

Desislava Kalcheva is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Industrial Economics and Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski. She joined the university in 2019 as a Parttime Lecturer and transitioned to a full-time role in 2023. Her expertise lies in public finance, regional development, and fiscal decentralization, informed by over 15 years of experience as a municipal finance expert at the Fund for Local Autorties and Governments (FLAG) and as a Chief Expert at the Fiscal Council of Bulgaria.

• Research Interests: Public Finance, Regional Development, Fiscal Decentralization
• Projects: European Commission's Local Autonomy Index Project II (Country Expert), University of Warsaw's Territorial Reforms in Europe (Country Expert)
• Memberships: Network of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration in Central and Eastern Europe (NISPAcee), European Urban Research Association
• Contact: d.kalcheva@feb.uni-sofia.bg | Office 409, Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd. 125, Sofia, Bulgaria

Her research focuses on municipal finance, territorial reforms, and pandemic impacts on local governance. She has contributed to methodologies for assessing municipal financial autonomy and creditworthiness. Her publications highlight trends in fiscal policy, e-services, and comparative analyses of local government performance across Europe.