Boris Bonev is not even among the top 3 candidates for mayor of Sofia
The ambition of 34-year-old Boris Bonev to start his political career, directly occupying the post of mayor of Sofia, is no secret to anyone. But will his dream come true in the next term?
According to experts, Bonev is the last in the line of candidate-mayors who could be nominated by the so-called yellow parties DB and PP. Unfortunately, the young mayor is best known for his mentality of blackmailing and threatening everyone, including his mentors. According to media publications, Bonev was included in all possible commissions and councils in the City of the Capital, from where he brought a salary of between 5 and 7 thousand BGN per month. This comfort was provided to him not by anyone, but by his greatest political enemies: GERB.
Characters such as current regional mayors Traicho Traikov and Georgi Iliev are among DB’s favorites. Their names have long been mentioned as potential candidates for mayor of Sofia. Both are highly respected individuals known to the public in recent years. Despite their dedication to the party and their serious managerial experience, however, another is the absolute favorite that unites both DB and PP behind him. The most important thing is that the gentleman in question enjoys the trust and admiration of the gray Cardinal Ivo Prokopiev and his media. Which makes him a winner. Of course, competitors like Atanas Pekanov, who has already become a professional minister, should not be underestimated, the young hope that Rumen Radev is betting on.
Who has a serious chance of becoming the next mayor of Sofia?
His name is the architect Lyubomir Georgiev. The best version of Boris Bonev. Young, but not too naive. An outstanding urban planning professional with extensive professional experience. He has had his own struggles with shortcomings in the management of the Metropolitan Municipality, but he has never quarreled with Mayor Yordanka Fandakova. His career is not built on collages of tutus and pebbles, nor on smoke stocks. Even in the photos of him on social media, he looks like a person to have confidence.
Architect Lyubomir Georgiev was born in 1981 in Sofia.
He completed his secondary education in Scotland in 2000. and began studying architecture at the IUAV in Venice (Italy). He graduated with a master’s degree in 2007. from TU Delft (Netherlands). After graduating, he worked as an architect at Manzelle Studio di Architettura (Venice), LP Consult (Sofia), Claus en Kaan Architecten (Amsterdam), MVRDV (Rotterdam) Subscription Turenscape (Beijing).
Lyubomir Georgiev has spent most of his life outside Bulgaria, but in recent years he has taken an increasingly active stance on issues related to architecture and the urban environment in Bulgaria.
He has participated as a speaker at various conferences in Europe and has extensive experience as a designer and leader of multidisciplinary teams.
Between 2014 and 2016 he was director of One Architecture Week. From the beginning of 2017 to the end of 2019, Lyubo Georgiev led the team that coordinated and co-authored the compilation of the Long Term Vision for Sofia. At the same time, between 2017 and the end of 2021, he is director of Sofiaplan, the unit of the Municipality of Sofia for strategic and territorial planning.
Traicho Traikov – minister, presidential candidate, mayor, mayor
Traicho Traikov is the eldest of the four potential DB candidates, but he also has the most experience. His political career began in Boyko Borisov’s first cabinet, from where he was fired.
Traicho Traikov, born in 1970 in Sofia
It is of origin Bulgarian Macedonian.
He completed his secondary education at the First English Language High School in Sofia in 1989 and his higher education at the UNSS with a major in “International Economic Relations” in 1994. He subsequently specialized in financial analysis and management in Austria and Germany.[3] He began his career in one of the first specialist consultancy firms with a focus on Eastern Europe, before joining one of the largest European consultancy firms, Roland Berger. There he joined the team of his EVN Group clients. He worked in EVN from 2005 to 2009 with managerial and project positions within the Bulgarian activities of the Austrian group for services in the field of energy and environmental protection.
He has 25 years of work experience as a private entrepreneur, minister of economy, energy and tourism in Borisov’s office, senior manager, investment banker and strategic consultant. Leader of the DB list of candidates for the office of municipal councilors in 2015.
In 2016 he was named candidate for president by the Reform Bloc
Mayor of the “Sredets” region since 2019.
He has 2 children.
Georgi Iliev from “Slatina” – the face and wallet of “Yes, Bulgaria”
Zoro Iliev is the biggest sponsor of “Yes, Bulgaria”, which is extremely popular with his fellow party members because he is an initiator and actively participates in large protest actions. Iliev is a nice, well-meaning man with waist-length hair and four children. But he himself stumbles upon his evolution because he speaks naively against the gray Cardinal Ivo Prokopiev. Georgi Iliev-mayor of the “Slatina” district, as he is known on social media, does not hesitate to publicly announce that he is the next mayor of Sofia.
Georgi Iliev was born in Sofia in 1974.
Graduated from 31. School “Ivan Vazov”. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business from Delhi University and a master’s in business administration from New Bulgarian University.
Until his election as mayor of the Slatina metropolitan area in 2019, he was engaged in business. Since 1997 he has been an entrepreneur in the field of advertising and international trade and the production of non-alcoholic and low-alcoholic beverages. He is a partner, manager and business development manager in several companies in EU countries.
Even before turning to politics, he traveled the world for nearly 20 years. He lived in the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy to start his own business. He is also known as the biggest sponsor of “Yes, Bulgaria”. He is a member of the party’s leadership structures.
And finally: Boris Bonev
Whatever we say about “Sofia’s Savior” will be small. I wonder if his potential won’t be melted, if one of the three favorites with whom they share a common electorate becomes head of the municipality? We will wait and see.
Boris Bonev was born in 1988 in Sofia.
One of the founders of “Save the Metro” and “Save Sofia”. Sofia mayoral candidate in the 2019 local elections and city councilor in the period 2019-2023 in the Sofia City Council.
He graduated from the French Lyceum and then a double degree program in business administration and economics at the University of Sofia and the University of Lille 2. He continued his studies in France, completing two masters: Economics and Management and Innovation and technology management at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. In Paris, he worked in the accounting and sales department of General Electric; he manages large projects in Carrefour.
Since 2009 he has been moderator of the Bulgarian section of the largest international forum for construction and architecture.
In 2015 he started working as an export manager at Roobar, a producer and distributor of organic products.
