The politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Belene is a town in Pleven Province, Northern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Belene Municipality. The town is situated on the right bank of the Danube river, close to the town of Svishtov.
The Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria situated 180 kilometres (110 mi) north of Sofia and 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of Kozloduy, a town on the Danube river, near the border with Romania. It is the country's only nuclear power plant and the largest in the region. The construction of the first reactor began on 6 April 1970.
The Belene Nuclear Power Plant is a planned nuclear power plant 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, near the Danube River. It was intended to substitute four VVER-440 V230 reactors of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant that were decommissioned as a prerequisite for Bulgaria to join the European Union.
Simeon Dyankov is a Bulgarian economist. From 2009 to 2013, he was the deputy prime minister and minister of finance of Bulgaria in the government of Boyko Borisov. He has been a vocal supporter of Bulgaria's entry into the Eurozone. Before his cabinet appointment, he was the chief economist of the finance and private sector vice-presidency of the World Bank.
Atomstroyexport is the Russian Federation's nuclear power equipment and service exporter. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Rosatom. The activities of Atomstroyexport are financially supported by the Russian government. The President of ASE Group of Companies is Alexander Lokshin.
Bulgaria–Russia relations are the diplomatic relations between the countries of Bulgaria and Russia.
Russia supplies a significant volume of fossil fuels to other European countries. In 2021, it was the largest exporter of oil and natural gas to the European Union, (90%) and 40% of gas consumed in the EU came from Russia.
A referendum on building a new nuclear power plant was held in Bulgaria on 27 January 2013. Whilst it was not explicitly mentioned in the question, it was widely acknowledged that the referendum was about restarting construction at the Belene Nuclear Power Plant.
Delyan Slavchev Peevski is a Bulgarian politician, oligarch, entrepreneur and former media mogul. He served as MP from the parliamentary group of the DPS in the 41st, 42nd, 43r, 44th, 47th and 48th National Assembly of Bulgaria and is currently serving as MP and co-chair of the Parliamentary Group of DPS in the 49th National Assembly. In 2013, Peevski was elected for a short time a President of the State Agency for National Security, which triggered long lasting national protests.
The ninetieth Cabinet of Bulgaria was a minority government chaired by Boyko Borisov. The government was formed after Borisov's party, GERB, won the 2009 parliamentary election. It remained in power relying on support from the opposition parties for almost four years before resigning following nationwide protests.
Boyko Metodiev Borisov is a Bulgarian politician who was a three-term Prime Minister of Bulgaria, serving from 2009 to 2013, 2014 to 2017, and 2017 to 2021, making him Bulgaria's second-longest serving Prime Minister to date. Despite leaving office, Borisov remained as the leader of the GERB party and later returned to politics by becoming a member of the National Assembly, which he is to this date.
Rumen Stoyanov Ovtcharov is a Bulgarian politician, engineer, physicist and economist. He was a member of the National Parliament on four occasions and was the Minister of the Economy and Energy between 17 August 2005 and 18 July 2007.
International sanctions have been imposed against Russia and Crimea during the Russo-Ukrainian War by a large number of countries, including the United States, Canada, the European Union, and international organisations following the Russian annexation of Crimea, which began in late February 2014. Belarus has also been sanctioned for its cooperation with and assistance to Russian armed forces. The sanctions were imposed against individuals, businesses, and officials from Russia and Ukraine. Russia responded with sanctions against several countries, including a total ban on food imports from Australia, Canada, Norway, Japan, the United States, the EU and the United Kingdom.
Rumen Georgiev Radev is a Bulgarian politician and former major general who has been the president of Bulgaria since 22 January 2017.
Traycho Dimitrov Traykov is a Bulgarian politician. He was a Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy from 2009 to 2012. In February 2012 he launched an examination of dams in the south of the country after malfunction complaints. In March 2012 it was reported that he had been dismissed from his position allegedly for delaying work on energy projects; Bulgarian-language daily Bulgaria Dnes alleges that it was due to Belene Nuclear Power Plant specifically, a project which was terminated that month. Traykov himself "attributed the dismissal to his firm position in negotiations with Russia and his demands that Russia should cut the construction cost of the Belene plant, reduce gas prices by as much as 15 percent in a new supply contract and increase returns from the South Stream pipeline above 8 percent." He was succeeded by his former deputy, Delyan Dobrev.
Kiril Petkov Petkov is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur, who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from December 2021 to August 2022. He is the co-leader of We Continue the Change, a political party he co-founded with Asen Vasilev.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine beginning on 24 February 2022, the United States, the European Union, and other Western countries introduced or significantly expanded sanctions covering Russian President Vladimir Putin, other government members and Russian citizens in general. Some Russian banks were banned from using the SWIFT international payments system. The sanctions and the boycotts of Russia and Belarus impacted the Russian economy.
Events from 2022 in the European Union.
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 2 April 2023 to elect members of the National Assembly. These were initially scheduled to be held before November 2026; however, as no government was approved by the 48th Parliament, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev announced in January 2023 that he would call a snap election.
