Caretaker Government Appoints Latest Regional Governors Across Bulgaria
Sofia, Bulgaria – February 23, 2026 – The caretaker government of Bulgaria has replaced all 28 regional governors, appointing a new set of leaders to oversee the country’s administrative regions. The appointments, announced today by the Council of Ministers, represent a comprehensive overhaul of regional leadership.
New Regional Governors
Here is a list of the newly appointed regional governors, as confirmed by the Council of Ministers:
- Blagoevgrad: Nikolay Kukolev
- Burgas: Dobromir Gyulev
- Varna: Atanas Mihov
- Veliko Tarnovo: Valentin Mihaylov
- Vidin: Ivan Ivanov
- Vratsa: Stefan Stefanov
- Gabrovo: Asen Daskalov
- Dobrich: Asen Atanasov
- Kardzhali: Zdravko Todorov
- Kyustendil: Kristian Ivanchov
- Lovech: Polya Varbanova
- Montana: Mihail Ivanov
- Pazardzhik: Lyubomir Gechev
- Pernik: Georgi Nedev
- Pleven: Alexander Yotkov
- Plovdiv: Vladislav Popov
- Ruse: Orlin Penkov
- Razgrad: Ognyan Obreshkov
- Silistra: Dimitar Karadzhov
- Sliven: Marincho Hristov
- Smolyan: Zarko Marinov
- Sofia City: Vyara Todeva
- Sofia Region: Ivan Dimitrov
- Stara Zagora: Iva Radeva
- Targovishte: Radoslav Boychev
- Haskovo: Ginka Raycheva
- Shumen: Marin Marinov
- Yambol: Bilyana Kavaldzhieva-Dimitrova
Background
The caretaker cabinet, led by Andrey Gyurov, initiated the replacement of all regional governors today. This move follows the government’s withdrawal of a proposal to appoint Denyo Denev as head of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) due to ongoing protests [nova.bg].
Orlin Penkov, the new regional governor of Ruse region, brings over 20 years of experience in management, business development, and sales to his role [fakti.bg].
Further Information
The appointments were made by a decision of the Council of Ministers and are effective immediately [bta.bg].