Sofia Municipal Council Appoints New Head

The Sofia Municipal Council, SOS, is electing Thursday its new chair, after the Wednesday resignation of Andrey Ivanov.

The vote will be secret.

The nomination of the ruling, center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, is Elen Gerdzhikov. He will be elected if at least 31 councilors vote for him. Since GERB has 33 such councilors it is almost certain, Gerdzhikov will be the new SOS Chairman.

He already stated that his priority for 2012 will be the municipal budget.

Elen Gerdzhikov was born in 1972. He has graduated from Sofia University with a Major in Philosophy and later obtained a Master's Degree in Political Science. Until now he was a member of the Permanent Committee for Economic Policy and Municipal Property and of the Permanent Committee for Finance and Budget at the City Hall. If he is elected he will be the youngest so far SOS Chairman.

Andrey Ivanov resigned early on Wednesday. Ivanov explained that he was sick and tired of the allegations that have surrounded him over the past four years.

Over one year ago, Ivanov was accused of illegally acquiring a number of properties worth a total of BGN 10 M, having excessive amounts of real estate and dealing with murky figures. He firmly denies all allegations.

Ivanov, who is believed to have been involved in major corruption schemes, is closely linked with the country's Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov.

On November 8, Ivanov was reelected Chair of the Sofia Municipal Council in a secret vote and won against the other top contender for the post - municipal councilor from the opposition, left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party and candidate for mayor of Sofia, Georgi Kadiev.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!