Andrey Karlov Lukanov ( ) (26 September 1938 – 2 October 1996) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

n politician. Between February and November 1990, was the final

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

of the

People's Republic of Bulgaria The People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB; bg, Народна Република България (НРБ), ''Narodna Republika Balgariya, NRB'') was the official name of Bulgaria, when it was a socialist republic from 1946 to 1990, ruled by the ...

Biography

Early life

Lukanov was born in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, in the family of

Karlo Lukanov Karlo Todorov Lukanov ( bg, Карло Тодоров Луканов; – 15 July 1982) was a Bulgarian politician of the Bulgarian Communist Party and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1956 to 1962. His father Todor Lukanov and his son Andrey Lu ...

, (1897-1982), a Bulgarian communist émigré. Lukanov's family moved back to Bulgaria after the communist takeover of

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

when Lukanov was only 6 years old. His father became an important figure in the party and served as foreign minister of Bulgaria from 1956 to 1961.

Political career

Andrey became a member of the party in 1963 and began a career in the foreign service. He helped represent Bulgaria in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

and

Comecon The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (, ; English abbreviation COMECON, CMEA, CEMA, or CAME) was an economic organization from 1949 to 1991 under the leadership of the Soviet Union that comprised the countries of the Eastern Bloc#List of s ...

. He rose through the ranks of the foreign service to become minister of foreign economic affairs in 1987, resigning in 1989. Lukanov became a leading member of the reformist wing of the BCP, and took part in the overthrow of longtime leader

Todor Zhivkov Todor Hristov Zhivkov ( bg, Тодор Христов Живков ; 7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was a Bulgarian communist statesman who served as the ''de facto'' leader of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from 1954 until 1989 ...

. He became prime minister on 3 February 1990. This office he held until 7 December 1990. Midway through his tenure, the Communist Party rebranded itself as the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Lukanov oversaw the first

democratic election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

which had taken place in Bulgaria since 1931. This election took place in June; the BSP remained the largest party in the national legislature, and Lukanov himself continued in government. Seeking a stable majority, Lukanov offered to form a coalition with the

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

, but his offers were rebuffed. The opposition argued that the former Communist Party must shoulder responsibility for past political crimes and the rapidly deteriorating economy. Lukanov's months in office were marked by corruption , huge consumer goods deficit, and civil unrest. Finally in December, after large demonstrations and a general strike, Lukanov resigned, allowing a technocratic government to be formed by

Dimitar Popov Dimitar Nikolaev Popov ( bg, Димитър Николаев Попов; born 27 February 1970) is a former Bulgarian professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career In his career Popov played for Levski Sofia, Botev Plovdiv, Sparta ...

. Lukanov was charged with embezzlement in 1992 and arrested, but charges were soon dropped. During his time in the foreign service, Lukanov had gained connections with western businessmen such as

Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster. Early in his life, Maxwell escaped from ...

and engaged in controversial business dealings.

Assassination

Lukanov was assassinated on 2 October 1996, оutside the

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

apartment where he lived. He was shot in the head and chest by a lone gunman who fled and was never captured. A building contractor named Angel Vassilev, who had been close to the incumbent BSP government led by

Zhan Videnov Zhan Vasilev Videnov ( bg, Жан Василев Виденов ; born 22 March 1959), sometimes spelled in English as Jean Videnov, was Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 25 January 1995 until 13 February 1997, a term remembered for the most severe ...

, was arrested and charged (alongside various others) with having organized Lukanov's murder. After a long trial and an initial guilty verdict, the Bulgarian Court of Appeal declared Vassilev and the other defendants to be innocent. Public rumors to the effect that Lukanov would be slain had been in existence for months before the killing was carried out. To this day, the true perpetrators of the assassination remain unknown.

References

External links