site.btaTop-of-the-list Candidates: Sofia's 23rd Constituency

BTA will publish the names of the top-of-the-list candidates of every party for all constituencies for the June 9 parliamentary elections. The information about the candidates is provided by the respective party/coalition.

A total of 31 parties and coalitions have been registered to run in the elections in Sofia’s 23rd constituency.

The order follows the sequential numbers on the ballots, as drawn by the Central Election Commission:

1. There Is Such a People: Pavela Mitova. Born in 1991. International relations expert, speaks English, French and Italian. Member of the 46th and 49th Parliament, chair of the Bulgaria-North Macedonia Friendship Group;

2. Glas Naroden [People's Voice] Party: Stefan Tsonchev, 39, optometrist;

3. Blue Bulgaria Coalition: Professor. Villi Lilkov. Born in 1955, married. Physicist (university lecturer), politician (MP, municipal councillor), author of books and basketball player. Co-founder of the party "Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria" (2004). Municipal councillor for four terms from the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and the Blue Coalition. Deputy Chair of the Sofia Municipal Council. MP of the Reformist Bloc group in 2014-2017;

4. We the Citizens Coalition: Svetozar Saev. Born in 1957. Engineer in production automation with experience as manager, researcher, and a lecturer. Graduate of the Technical University and UNWE. Also works in the field of tourism. Fluent in English and Russian;

5. No registered list of candidates;

6. Bulgarian Voice Party: Nikolay Drenchev. Born in 1968. Engineer by profession. Members of the 47th, 48th and 49th National Assemblies from the Vazrazhdane party, currently independent MP;

7. Rose Coalition: Dimitar Mitev, Graduate of Sofia University, PhD in Political Science. Speaks English and Chinese. Finance director in an investment company;

8. Centre Coalition: Ivaylo Yurukov. Born in 1983. Studied Law at Sofia University. Admitted to the Sofia Bar Association in 2010, experienced in civil and criminal law; 

9. Bulgarian Solidarity Coalition: Maya Manolova. Born in 1965. Member of several parliaments. Chair of the civic platform "Stand up.BG". Lawyer by profession. Served as National Ombudsman in 2015-2019;

10. Edinenie [Unity] Party: Andrey Andonov - film director, screenwriter and producer. He has also worked as an ecologist and environmental consultant. Holds bachelor's degrees in Ecology and Environmental Protection, Film Production and Directing, and a master's in Geographical Information Systems;

11. Bulgarian National Alliance (BNO) Party: Dimitar Ivanov. Member of two parliaments. Expert in nuclear energy. Did a specialization in shale gas in the USA;

12. Vazrazhdane Party: Tsoncho Ganev. Born in 1979 in. Holds a degree in Trade Economics. Deputy mayor of Sofia’s Mladost district in 2012-2015. Co-founder of the Vazrazhdane party. Member of the 47th and 48th parliaments. Member and deputy chair of the 49th National Assembly;

13. Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) Party: Kiril Veselinski. Journalist with over 13 years of experience in the Bulgarian media. Part of the party's executive council;

14. Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria Coalition: Kiril Petkov. Born in 1980. Member of the 47th, 48th, 49th parliaments. Prime minister in 2021-2022. Holds a degree in finance from the University of British Columbia, and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University. Co-founder of the Center for Economic Strategy and Competitiveness at Sofia University, affiliated with Harvard University; 

15. The Truth and Nothing but the Truth People's Party: Ognyan Simeonov, nutritionist;

16. Bulgarian Rise Party: Krasimir Yankov. Born in 1974. Studied Financial Management at the University of Economics in Varna and the Academy of Economics in Svishtov. Member of the 42nd, 43rd and 44th parliaments;

17. Civic Bloc Coalition: Spas Spaskov;

18. Society for New Bulgaria Party: Margarit Mitsev. Deputy chair of the party. MP of UDF in the 36th National Assembly;

19. The Left! Coalition: Tatyana Doncheva. Born in 1960. Lawyer, leader of Movement 21. Members of several parliaments, deputy chair of the 45th and 46th national assemblies;

20. Party of the Greens: Vladimir Nikolov, 44, studied public administration. Manager of an aviation security company and leader of the party;

21. Here We Come Party: Arman Babikyan. Born in 1967. Married with two children. Speaks English, Russian and Armenian. Marketing and PR expert. Studied at Sofia University. Specialized in Radio Management at Fredonia University in New York State, USA. In 2012 he received an award for civic contribution, awarded for the 20th anniversary of the Open Society Club - Varna. Worked as a journalist at the Bulgarian National Radio and Radio Free Europe. Member of the 45th and 46th parliaments;

22. GERB-UDF Coalition (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) and Union of Democratic Forces (UDF)): Georgi Georgiev. Born in 1986. Studied Law at Sofia University. Experienced in public procurement proceedings. Deputy chair of the current Sofia Municipal Council, and chair of the previous one;

23. Bulgarian National Union New Democracy Party: Mariyan Beloev;

24. BSP for Bulgaria Coalition: Hristo Prodanov. Born in 1977. Engineer, economist by profession. MP of BSP for Bulgaria in several parliaments. Former tourism minister in the government of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov;

25. Velichie [Grandeur] Party: Georgi Kukov. Born in 1963. Studied Pharmacy at the Medical Academy in Sofia. Until 1994, he worked as a pharmacy and medical insurance manager at the National Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases. Founder of a company trading in medicines;

26. VMRO-Bulgarian National Movement Party: Carlos Contrera. Born in 1987. Studied administrative law at Sofia University. Candidate for mayor of Sofia in 2023, and currently a third term municipal councillor;

27. Direct Democracy Party: Petar Klisarov. Born in 1968. Graduated from George Brawn College in Toronto, the Toronto School of Business, and the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. Representative of Atomic Energy of Canada, 2001-2005. AECOM Director General for Bulgaria, 2006-2011. Founder of the Reform party (2005), later Direct Democracy; 

28. Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Party: Timur Halilov;

29. Green Movement Party: Borislav Sandov. Born in 1982. Environmental activist. Studied Geology and Geography at Sofia University. Co-founder of Green Movement in 2008 (then "The Greens"). On several occasions he has been co-chair of the party, and is currently a member of its Executive Council. MP of Democratic Bulgaria in the 45th and 46th national assemblies. Former deputy prime minister for climate policies and minister of environment and water policy in the government of Kiril Petkov;

30. Party for Great Bulgaria: Georgi Ivanov;

31. Bulgarian Union for Direct Democracy (BSDD): Angel Tasev. Colonel, engineer with 30 years of officer service in the Bulgarian Army. Specialist in international humanitarian law, expert in national and corporate security, member of the Institute of Management of the Swiss Academy of Sciences;

32. Neutral Bulgaria Coalition: Aleksandar Paunov. Born in 1949. Economist by profession. Speaks German, Russian and Czech. Member of several parliaments. Currently the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Bulgaria (CPB).