List of presidents of Bulgaria (1990–present)

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President of the Republic of Bulgaria
Президент на Република България
Coat of arms of Bulgaria
Incumbent Rumen Radev since 22 January 2017
Style	His Excellency
Residence	Largo, Sofia
Term length	Five years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Petar Mladenov
Formation	3 April 1990
Deputy	Iliana Yotova
Salary	€ 2,845.57 / $ 3,947.92 per month (March 2014)
Website	www.president.bg

Politics of Bulgaria
Constitution 1879 1947 1971 1991
Presidency President (list) Rumen Radev Vice President Iliana Iotova
Executive Legislative Government Prime Minister (list) Kiril Petkov National Assembly Speaker: Iva Miteva
Law Judiciary Nationality law Human rights Courts Constitutional Court Supreme Administrative Court Supreme Court of Cassation Office of the General Prosecutor
Major political parties PP GERB DPS Bulgarian Socialist Party ITN Democratic Bulgaria Revival
Recent elections Presidential: 2016 2021 Parliamentary: 2021 (Jul) 2021 (Nov) European: 2014 2019 2024
Administrative divisions Provinces (oblasti) Municipalities (obshtini)
Foreign relations 2007 EU enlargement Kristalina Georgieva Politics of the European Union
Bulgaria portal Other countries
v t

The modern Bulgarian presidency was formed in 1990 after the fall of the Bulgarian People's Republic. After the completion of the second round of voting in the 2016 Bulgarian presidential election, Rumen Radev was elected on 13 November 2016.

In the Third Bulgarian State, the functions of head of state were performed by the reigning monarch or through a regency. Later on in the communist era, the Chairman of the State Council of Bulgaria served as the paramount head of state of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. Despite this, the General Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party also served de facto representative and executive for the country during this period.^[1] The following is a list of presidents of Bulgaria since the modern republic was established in 1990.

History of the institution[]

The story of the presidential institution in Bulgaria is relatively short and is associated with the reconstruction of the country after the fall of the communist regime in 1989. With the new structuring of the institutions in the context of the transition of Bulgaria to democracy and market economy, the presidential institution in Bulgaria became reality with the adoption of the new constitution on July 12, 1991. The first president of Bulgaria is a doctor of philosophy Zhelyu Zhelev. He won the presidential election of 1992 by direct vote, in accordance with the new constitution. His vice president was the poet Blaga Dimitrova.

The second presidential elections held in 1996 were won by Petar Stoyanov. He takes office on January 22, 1997, as his vice president Todor Kavaldzhiev. In 2001 Stoyanov run for a second term, but lost in the second round of Georgi Parvanov. Elections are held in November 2001. So for the third President of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov was elected, and for his Vice President Angel Marin. They took office on 22 January of next year. The couple was re-elected in 2006. After the expiry of their second term, the second round of elections in 2011 was elected president Rosen Plevneliev and for his vice president Margarita Popova. They take an oath on January 19, 2012 and the inauguration of the 22nd the same month. After the expiry of their first term, the second round of elections in 2016 was elected president Rumen Radev and for his vice president Iliana Yotova. They take an oath on January 19, 2017 and the inauguration of the 22nd the same month.

The salary that receives Bulgarian President is equal to two monthly salaries of MPs. So in March 2014 it amounted to 4614 Levs.

List of presidents of Bulgaria[]

Party legend

  Bulgarian Socialist Party (1)   Independent (1)   Union of Democratic Forces (2)   GERB (1)

№	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death)	Term of office / mandates		Prime Ministers	Previous post	Political alliance
—		Petar Mladenov Петър Тошев Младенов 1936–2000 (Lived: 63 years)	3 April 1990	6 July 1990	Andrey Lukanov (1990)	Chairman of the State Council of Bulgaria (1989-1990)	Bulgarian Socialist Party
			—
—		Stanko Todorov Станко Тодоров Георгиев 1920–1996 (Lived: 76 years)	6 July 1990	17 July 1990	Andrey Lukanov (1990)	Chairperson of the National Assembly (1981-1990)	Bulgarian Socialist Party
			acting as Chairperson of the National Assembly
—		Nikolai Todorov Николай Тодоров Тодоров 1921–2003 (Lived: 82 years)	17 July 1990	1 August 1990	Andrey Lukanov (1990)	Chairperson of the National Assembly (1990)	Independent
			acting as Chairperson of the National Assembly
1		Zhelyu Zhelev Желю Митев Желев 1935–2015 (Lived: 79 years)	1 August 1990	22 January 1997	Andrey Lukanov (1990) Dimitar Popov (1990-1991) Philip Dimitrov (1991–1992) Lyuben Berov (1992–1994) Reneta Indzhova (1994–1995) Zhan Videnov (1995-1997)	Chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces (1989-1990)	Union of Democratic Forces
			1992 – 52.8%, 2,738,436
2		Petar Stoyanov Петър Стефанов Стоянов Born 1952 (69 years old)	22 January 1997	22 January 2002	Zhan Videnov (1997) Stefan Sofiyanski (1997) Ivan Kostov (1997–2001) Simeon Sakskoburggotski (2001-2002)	Vice Chairman of the Union of Democratic Forces (1995-1996)	Union of Democratic Forces
			1996 – 59.7%, 2,502,517
3		Georgi Parvanov Георги Седефчов Първанов Born 1957 (64 years old)	22 January 2002	22 January 2012	Simeon Sakskoburggotski (2002-2005) Sergei Stanishev (2005-2009) Boyko Borisov (2009–2012)	Chairman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (1996-2001)	Bulgarian Socialist Party
			2001 – 54.1%, 2,043,443 2006 – 75.9%, 2,050,488
4		Rosen Plevneliev Росен Асенов Плевнелиев Born 1964 (57 years old)	22 January 2012	22 January 2017	Boyko Borisov (2012-2013) Marin Raykov (2013) Plamen Oresharski (2013–2016) Georgi Bliznashki (2016) Boyko Borisov (2016–2017)	Minister of Regional Development and Public Works (2009-2011)	GERB
			2011 – 52.6%, 1,698,136
5		Rumen Radev Румен Георгиев Радев Born 1963 (58 years old)	22 January 2017	Incumbent	Boyko Borisov (2017) Ognyan Gerdzhikov (2017) Boyko Borisov (2017–2021) Stefan Yanev (2021) Kiril Petkov (2021-present)	Bulgarian Air Force commander (2014-2016)	Independent
			2016 – 59.4%, 2,049,260 2021 – 66.7%, 1,539,650

Timeline[]

See also[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Presidents of Bulgaria.

• Politics of Bulgaria
• List of Bulgarian monarchs
• List of Bulgarian regents
• List of heads of state of Bulgaria
• List of heads of government of Bulgaria
• List of first deputy chairmen of the State Council of Bulgaria
• Vice President of Bulgaria

References[]