The key to the Council of Ministers before and after the elections will be with the deputy governor of the BNB on a long unpaid leave – the election of Iliana Yotova (according to the amended constitution) does not bring her either responsibility or risk for his actions, but there will be responsibility and risk especially for “Change” (one of the parties that created the madness in the constitution by limiting the rights of the president when electing a caretaker government).
The almost certain caretaker prime minister is named Andrey Gyurov.
This was the name that was most often heard of “Dondukov” 2 during these ten days of consultations, after which Iliana Yotova must choose from among 5 of the so-called. home book.
In addition to Gyurov, the willingness to take on the creation of an official cabinet was also given by: the deputy ombudsman Maria Filipova, the head of the Audit Chamber Dimitar Glavchev and his deputies Margarita Nikolova and Silvia Kudreva.
The 50-year-old former chairman of the “Promyanata” parliamentary group, and now entangled in a complex legal case deputy governor of the BNB on a long unpaid leave, was named as the most suitable and desired not only by his own in the PP-DB, but also by MECH, Velichie, APS and even Vazrazhdane, who refused to meet the president. But they also announced that they supported Gyurov, because “out of all of them, only he was distant from Borisov and Peevski”.
This was probably the only argument for them to look at the even more former manager at the golf club in Bansko and professor at the American University in Blagoevgrad as a “player against the status quo”.
Why exactly did Gyurov choose Iliana Yotova from among the five who said “yes” to be acting prime minister, we will probably hear from the president tomorrow at the latest. The truth is that she didn’t have much of a choice – two of the ladies without any experience, one who served for a long time in the name of the people, an otherwise experienced prime minister, but with cashed elections, and a politician who entered the BNB for a short time and ended up in a court case that acquired an international scale.
Otherwise, the election of Gyurov is a signal to society against the background of the protests that led to the resignation of the “Zhelyazkov” cabinet at the end of last year. There were even warnings on social networks that if Yotova chooses someone else and not Gyurov, Asen Vassilev will bring out the dissatisfied under her windows.
But it is precisely with the new acting prime minister that the risk comes – PP, DB and all those who “elect” him must be ready to bear all responsibility for the organization and fairness of the upcoming vote. Accordingly, for the results with which they will enter the next parliament.
From her first conversation, President Yotova is completely frank and reminds each party of her position – this is not her choice and she is not responsible for the caretaker government.
After the changes in the constitution, the responsibility between the executive (official) and the legislative power is shared, Yotova announced to GERB exactly 8 days ago. He reminded that the National Assembly is now a permanently functioning body, its political responsibility is also not interrupted. And the president appoints an acting prime minister from among 10 persons elected and appointed to the position precisely by the parliament.
“With these changes in the constitution, I will nominate one of the candidates, but this is not my choice. Authority is built and used when the choice is 100% mine, and in this situation I would bear the full political responsibility for his work,” Yotova stated categorically before the DPS-NN. And he reminded this at each of his meetings before the representatives of the parliamentary forces.
Participants in the consultations outside the presidency revealed that no party has indicated Dimitar Glavchev as suitable for the post.
Although he has experience as an official prime minister of two governments, he has a “black stamp” on him after the “Velichie” scandal. It was his government that held the October 2024 elections, which were partially nullified by the Constitutional Court. A decision that led to an unprecedented reshuffling of mandates, in which Ivelin Mihailov’s people entered the parliament in the third month after its start.
Perhaps that is also why GERB, who say they are in a cold relationship with the head of the Audit Chamber, came up with the exotic idea that the president should nominate a deputy who is suitable for acting prime minister, and they should elect him as the speaker of the National Assembly, so that he has the right to hold the position.
The DPS described the future caretaker prime minister as “a person with administrative experience who knows the structures of the state and does not bear the characteristics of one party or another.” Their colleagues from ITN were more categorical: they cannot be Glavchev and Gyurov, because they are both “party colored”. While the position of the BSP is that there cannot be an impartial prime minister because all the candidates are elected by the parliament. The Socialists were perhaps the most honest about the situation in which the parliament placed the president. No matter what his name is.
Therefore, the election of Gyurov will be a great test for “We continue the change”. It is clear that the official cabinet will be associated with them, since he is one of the prominent party figures. It is unofficially said that Gyurov is further away from Asen Vassilev and closer to Nikolay Denkov, but whether this is the case when he becomes acting prime minister, it does not matter.
Because the responsibility for the fairness of the elections will ultimately fall precisely on the PP-DB. And there will always be those dissatisfied with the results.
The test this time will be even greater, because in addition to organizing the elections, the caretaker government will face another very important task – to adopt a regular budget for 2026, because the extended one is not working after the adoption of the euro. This was also the main task outlined by the president and the parties during the consultations.
“I shared with Ms. Yotova that I am ready to take on the responsibility if it is done under clear principles and without hidden conditions. This means Bulgaria is Europe, and fair elections are held in Europe,” explained the deputy head of the BNB after his conversation with the president, to whom he said “yes” to the position.
According to him, there can be fair elections when the caretaker government does not interfere in the political arena and is “sufficiently neutral and equally distant” from all parties, and works only within its constitutional powers.
Gyurov can hardly be defined as neutral. The 50-year-old economist, born in Gotse Delchev, was the chairman of the “We continue the change” parliamentary group from their entry into politics in 2021 until the summer of 2023, when he was elected deputy governor of the BNB. His name was in the scandal between the partners from PP and ITN during the “Petkov” cabinet, when he and Lyubomir Karimanski (of Slavi Trifonov) were appointed governors, and the battle was fierce. In the end, the election failed, with it the ruling coalition collapsed and the government fell.
When Gyurov entered the battle for the governor of the BNB, there were also those who were surprised. It is said that he is slightly offended by his fellow members of the PP that they did not support him visibly enough for the post. And when his legal sagas began along with his removal as deputy governor at the BNB, the PP seemed to have completely forgotten about him. There were no protests in his defense or support, as there were for Vasil Terziev or Blagomir Kotsev, for example.
Lawyers and enemies warned in the penultimate months that Andrey Gyurov would be a risk if he became acting prime minister – he has been on unpaid leave as deputy governor of the BNB for a long time.
In 2024, the Central Treasury Board dismissed him as “not meeting the requirements” for the position. This happened after a report by the anti-corruption commission that Gyurov delayed his exit from non-governmental organizations. Thus, he was removed from office, but not from the post.
Gyurov appealed to the Supreme Court, and the supreme judges sent the case to the Court of the EU in Luxembourg. If he is elected, there is a legal risk, not from the point of view of whether he is still the deputy governor of the BNB, but because such a presidential decree could be challenged, which would create tension.
At the hearing before the court in Luxembourg, I received very definite support from the opinions of the European Central Bank and the European Commission, in this sense I have no “moral problems” in accepting the position, Gyurov explained after the meeting with President Iliana Yotova.
“Andrei Gyurov’s candidacy arouses certain comments in the legal circles, but it should be approached from a purely constitutional point of view. At the moment, Andrey Gyurov is the deputy governor of the BNB, but he has been removed and does not fulfill his powers. However, there is still no act to release him from this position. In this sense, purely legally, there is no obstacle for him to be nominated as acting prime minister”, explained Assoc. Hristo Ormandzhiev some time ago.
date:2026-02-11 08:16:00