Irena Radović, PhD

Ms Irena Radović, PhD, was born in Podgorica on 21 April 1978. She graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Montenegro in 2000 with a degree in international economics and business. She was the winner of the “19 December” award in 1999, as well as the award of the University of Montenegro in 2000 in the field of social sciences in recognition of her academic achievements.

As a Chevening scholar, she obtained a master’s degree in international relations at the University of Cambridge in Great Britain in 2002. She also received her master’s degree in economic sciences at the Consortium for Research and Continuing Education Economics in Italy in 2003. She has a PhD in economic sciences and academic experience in the international economy, the world economy’s globalisation, and the EU’s monetary economy.

Since 2000, she has been engaged as a teacher of international economics, the world economy’s globalisation and monetary economics at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Montenegro.

She started her professional career in 2000 at Montenegro’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a simultaneous engagement at the Faculty of Economics in Podgorica.

From 2003 to 2007, she was the head of the British Council office and the representative of the Government of Great Britain in Montenegro. After the declaration of Montenegro’s independence, she was the deputy ambassador of Great Britain in Montenegro.

From 2010 to 2015, she was the ambassador of Montenegro to the Republic of France. During that period, she was also the ambassador of Montenegro to UNESCO and a member of its governing body - the Executive Board of UNESCO from November 2011. From 2011 to 2013, she was the Vice-President of the General Conference of UNESCO. She also represented Montenegro in other international organisations with headquarters in Paris, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB).

In March 2017, she was appointed Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG) and a member of the Council of the CBCG. In addition to responsibility for banking system supervision, she was the Vice-President of the Investment Committee of the CBCG and an associate member of the national Financial Stability Council. In addition to supervising the banking sector, during her term as CBCG Vice-Governor, she was also in charge of regulating non-financial institutions and consumer protection.

From 2019 until she was appointed the Executive Director of the Investment and Development Fund of Montenegro (IDF), she was engaged in reforming the financial system in Bosnia and Herzegovina on theUnited States Agency for International Development (USAID) project on behalf of Financial Markets Intl.

In January 2021, she was appointed the IDF’s executive director. She held the position until she was appointed the CBCG Governor on 15 December 2023.

Her accolades include the Gold Medal and Charter of the Universal League for the Public Good, awarded in Paris in April 2014.

In the same year, Prince Albert II of Monaco awarded her the Order of Knight of the Order of Saint Charles, the most prestigious medal of honour of the Principality of Monaco, on behalf of the Order of Grimaldi, awarded to deserving individuals and states.

In November 2022, she received the Legion of Honor, the highest French medal of honour, making her its first and only winner in Montenegro since the renewal of independence.

In October 2023, at the G100 World Economic Forum (WEF 2023) in London, she was elected G100 global leader and chair of the “Financial Inclusion and Corporate Board Readiness” Group, with responsibility for the global connection and networking of G100 activities in the financial and corporate management sectors.

On that occasion, she was presented with the “Woman of the Decade” award in recognition of her contribution to financial inclusion and economic empowerment of women. As a representative of Montenegro and the Western Balkans, she stood out as the only winner from Southeast Europe.

She speaks English, French and Italian and uses Spanish, German and Albanian.