List of presidents of Bulgaria (1990–present)

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

The modern Bulgarian presidency was formed in 1990 after the fall of the Bulgarian People's Republic. The latest presidential election took place in 2021 Bulgarian general election which saw incumbent Rumen Radev reelected for a second term.

History of the institution

In the Kingdom of Bulgaria, the functions of head of state were performed by the reigning monarch or through a regency. Later, during 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. However, the general secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party also served de facto representative and executive for the country. The following is a list of presidents of Bulgaria since the modern republic was established in 1990.

The modern history of the presidential institution in Bulgaria is relatively short and is mostly associated with the reconstruction of the country after the fall of the communist regime in 1989. With the restructuring of the institutions in the context of the transition of Bulgaria to democracy and market economy, the office of the presidency was instituted with the adoption of the new constitution on July 12, 1991.

The first president of Bulgaria was a doctor of philosophy Zhelyu Zhelev, who had been elected by the National Assembly in 1990. Following the adoption of the new constitution, he was elected by a popular vote in 1992. His vice president was the poet Blaga Dimitrova. The second presidential election was held in 1996 and was won by Petar Stoyanov, who took office on January 22, 1997. His vice president was Todor Kavaldzhiev. In 2001 Stoyanov ran for a second term, but lost the election to Georgi Parvanov. Parvanov and his Vice President, Angel Marin, took office on 22 January 2022. The pair was re-elected in the 2006 election. Parvanov was term limited and ineligible to run again and in 2011 election, and Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova were elected to the presidency. They were inaugurated on 22 January 2012. Plevneliev did not seek a second term in office and the 2016 election resulted in victory for Rumen Radev and Iliana Yotova. They took the presidential oath on January 19, 2017, and were inaugurated three days later on 22 January. The pair was reelected in 2021.

The salary that the Bulgarian president receives is equal to two monthly salaries of MPs. As of March 2014 this 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
			April 1990
—		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
			July-August 1990 1992 – 52.8%, 2,738,436
2		Petar Stoyanov Петър Стефанов Стоянов Born 1952 (72 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 (67 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 (60 years old)	22 January 2012	22 January 2017	Boyko Borisov (2012-2013) Marin Raykov (2013) Plamen Oresharski (2013–2014) Georgi Bliznashki (2014) Boyko Borisov (2014–2017)	Minister of Regional Development and Public Works (2009-2011)	GERB
			2011 – 52.6%, 1,698,136
5		Rumen Radev Румен Георгиев Радев Born 1963 (61 years old)	22 January 2017	Incumbent	Boyko Borisov (2017) Ognyan Gerdzhikov (2017) Boyko Borisov (2017–2021) Stefan Yanev (2021) Kiril Petkov (2021-2022) Galab Donev (2022-2023) Nikolai Denkov (2023-present)	Bulgarian Air Force commander (2014-2016)	Independent
			2016 – 59.4%, 2,049,260 2021 – 66.7%, 1,539,650

Timeline

See also

• 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