All 28 Regional Governors Replaced by the Caretaker Government in Bulgaria

The caretaker government led by Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov has carried out a full replacement of all 28 regional governors across Bulgaria. Most of the newly-appointed officials have prior experience either as regional governors or deputy governors in administrations associated with the “We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria” (WCC-DB) coalition up to 2025.

The appointments have stirred political tensions. Nikola Nikolov, head of public communications for the GERB party, warned on social media that the changes compromise the fairness of the upcoming elections, emphasizing that all new governors are affiliated with parties from the WCC-DB coalition. GERB leader Boyko Borissov echoed these concerns in a meeting with mayors in the Stara Zagora region, asserting that the caretaker government is aligned with WCC-DB and suggesting that the early parliamentary elections may not be conducted impartially.

The Central Election Commission is set to open registration for parties and coalitions aiming to participate in the early parliamentary elections on April 19, 2026. The registration period will run from February 24 until March 4.

The Council of Ministers confirmed the names of the new regional governors as follows:

• Blagoevgrad - Nikolay Kukolev

• Burgas - Dobromir Gyulev

• Varna - Atanas Mikhov

• 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 - Vara Todeva

• Sofia Province - Ivan Dimitrov

• Stara Zagora - Iva Radeva

• Targovishte - Radoslav Boychev

• Haskovo - Ginka Raicheva

• Shumen - Marin Marinov

• Yambol - Biliana Kavaljieva-Dimitrova

In parallel, the caretaker cabinet withdrew its proposal to appoint Denyo Denev as chairman of the State Agency for National Security (SANS). Denev had only been performing the functions of the role due to protests that prevented his formal appointment.

These moves mark a decisive reshaping of Bulgaria’s regional leadership under the caretaker administration ahead of the April elections.