Maxim Behar

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Maxim Behar is a Bulgarian businessman, leading public relations expert, Chief Executive of M3 Communications Group, Inc., a Public Relations Company in Bulgaria, exclusive associate of Hill & Knowlton Group.

Mr. Behar had been two terms Chairman of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum ([1]) (2001-2007) and is Honorary Consul of the Republic of Seychelles to Bulgaria ([2]). He is also a member of numerous boards (Junior Achievement, Atlantic Club in Bulgaria, Every Child Foundation, EcoCommunity Foundation ) and carrier of many local and international awards.

Maxim Behar founded M3 Communication Group, Inc. in 1994 and is currently the company's Chief Executive.

M3 Communications Group, Inc. is the leader in the field of public and media relations in Bulgaria. It has clients list of more than 60 international and local companies. Mr. Behar is personally involved in all projects of the company. He is a part of the initial and also ongoing stage of each client's enquiry.

Maxim Behar received a Bachelor's degree in Engineering Economics and then an Advanced degree in International Economic Relations from the Prague Economics University in 1983. Before that he had spent 5 years as a machinery worker in a factory in capital Sofia.

After graduation, he continued to serve as a journalist, a career he began in 1981, throughout the Czech Republic and Poland until 1991.

During that time Mr. Behar had the opportunity to interview many key international figures, including Prime Ministers, Presidents, Royal dignitaries, directors and presidents of many international corporations. He also created two movies about Poland and published a book - Secondary Instinct - about Polish reforms, which became a best seller on the Bulgarian book market in 2000-2001.

In 1992, using his previous journalistic experience, he co-founded the "Standard Daily" where he was the Managing Editor and remained in active journalism until 1995.

In 1999, Maxim Behar became the first Bulgarian to receive full membership in the International Public Relations Association. Six years later, in 2005, he was once again the first Bulgarian to become full member of the American Public Relations Society.

Mr. Behar initiated the foundation of two associations: the National Association of Journalists for the EU (1995) and the Bulgarian Association of Advertising Agencies and Professionals (1996). Thus, he expressed his commitment to these professions and acknowledged the important role they play in the modern business life.

Along with the foundation of above-mentioned associations, Mr. Behar also served as Board Member and Executive Director for the Bulgarian Investment Forum from 1997 till 2000. 1999 saw him continue his education, graduating from the Full Corporate Program of Japanese Style of Management, AOTS, Yokohama Kenshu Center, Japan.

In 2001, Mr. Behar was elected President of the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum. As such, he officially hosted The Prince of Wales during his visit to Sofia in 2003 and moderated the meeting of His Royal Highness with representatives of the Bulgarian business sphere.

In the year of 2003 he became founder and Chairman of the Board of M3 Communications College, the first and the only fully licensed college in Bulgaria of Public communication studies.

Earlier in the year of 2003, together with former Nevada Governor Bob Miller, he became a founder and shareholder of the major Bulgarian-American consultancy company Miller & Behar Strategies, successfully operating to promote US investments to Bulgaria and also to provide more information about US business environment to Bulgarian entrepreneurs.

In 2004 he was announced and received the annual award "Face of the Bulgarian Tourism" by the prestigious monthly magazine Recreation & Tourism at a special ceremony in Sofia.

An year later monthly magazine Ikonomika presented officially its yearly award for special achievements in Business Communications to Mr. Maxim Behar. The prize is the most prestigious one in the field of business communications in Bulgaria and for the first time ever goes to a PR and marketing expert.

In the summer of 2004, he was appointed Honorary Consul of the Republic of Seychelles to Bulgaria.

Mr. Behar is also engaged in the social and cultural life of the country. He serves on the Board of several organizations including Junior Achievement Bulgaria and the Art Council of Bulgarian National TV, and is a founder and Chairman of the Bulgarian-Polish Business Club and recently elected Board Member of Every Child Foundation.

Under Mr. Behar's management, M3 Communications Group, Inc. became a full member of the European Business Congress, one of the most influential industrial communities in Europe.

Among Mr. Behar's career highlights is his role as a Press and Public Relations Director in 1998 during Hillary Clinton's, US First Lady, visit to Bulgaria. Some of the most famous companies that used his services as chief PR consultant include Amoco Petroleum, Toyota, Microsoft, Nokia, Cisco, Danone and Solvay Chemicals, Mall of Sofia and many others.

In November 2005 Mr. Behar was announced Honorary Citizen of his native city of Shumen.

May 2006 he attended a dinner with president George Bush in the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. on behalf of the 100th Anniversary of the American Jewish Committee.

Mr. Behar can comfortably converse in eight different languages. He is fluent in Bulgarian, English, Czech, Polish and Russian. He can work and read in Slovak and Serbo-Croatian and is a beginner in Spanish. He is also a big fan of all computer innovations and spends endless hours surfing the Internet every day.

Married, his wife Mila runs the Bulgarian Superbrands project, his son Michael studies in New Bulgarian University and works full time in www.mobilebulgaria.com as a Sales Manager, his daughter Ralitsa is in high school.