Traycho Dimitrov Traykov ( bg, Трайчо Димитров Трайков) is 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 Macedon ...

n 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 ''Bulgaria Dnes'' (''Bulgaria Today''), commonly ''Dnes'', is a Bulgarian-language daily newspaper, based in Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the f ...

'' alleges that it was due to

Belene Nuclear Power Plant The Belene Nuclear Power Plant ( bg, Атомна електроцентрала „Белене“) is a planned nuclear power plant 3 km from Belene and 11 km from Svishtov in Pleven Province, northern Bulgaria, near the Danube River. ...

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 Delyan Dobrev (born 1977 or 1978) is a Bulgarian politician. He was the Deputy Bulgarian Minister of Economy and Energy under Traycho Traykov, succeeding him as Minister in March 2012 following an energy crisis in the country which included the a ...

Minister of Economy

Traicho Traykov was Minister of Economy in the first

Boyko Borisov Boyko Metodiev Borisov ( bg, Бойко Методиев Борисов, ; born 13 June 1959) is a Bulgarian politician who served as the prime minister of Bulgaria from 2009 to 2013, 2014 to 2017, and 2017 to 2021, making him Bulgaria's secon ...

government. He was part of the

Reformist Bloc The Reformist Bloc ( bg, Реформаторски блок, Reformatorski blok) was a centre-right electoral alliance in Bulgaria. History The coalition agreement to form the alliance was signed on 20 December 2013. The five parties that signe ...

, together with Deputy Prime Minister

Simeon Djankov Simeon Dyankov ( bg, Симеон Дянков, also Djankov; born July 13, 1970) 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. Prior to hi ...

, Minister for Infrastructure

Rosen Plevneliev Rosen Asenov Plevneliev ( bg, Росен Асенов Плевнелиев ; born 14 May 1964) is a Bulgarian politician who was the 4th President of Bulgaria, holding the position from January 2012 to January 2017. He was the Minister of Region ...

and the Minister of Environment Nona Karadzhova.

Presidential Candidate

On 1 September 2016, the

announced that Traycho Traykov would run in the

2016 Bulgarian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Bulgaria on 6 November 2016, alongside a referendum on changes to the electoral system and political party funding. The second round was held on 13 November 2016, resulting in the victory of Rumen Radev. Ele ...

. His running mate was General Sabi Sabev. During the whole election campaign, Traykov was targeted by media owned by

Delyan Peevski Delyan Slavchev Peevski ( bg, Делян Славчев Пеевски ) (born 27 July 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, oligarch, entrepreneur and media mogul. He served as MP from the parliamentary group of the DPS in the 41st, 42nd, 43rd an ...

who is currently nominated for sanctions under the US

Magnitsky Act The Magnitsky Act, formally known as the Russia and Moldova Jackson–Vanik Repeal and Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012, is a bipartisan bill passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in D ...

. Social activists were worried that the main purpose of the black PR campaign was to neutralize Traykov who appealed to progressive voters. Traykov eventually came in sixth in the presidential race with 5.87% of the votes. He received strong support from Bulgarians living in Germany.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traykov, Traycho 1970 births Living people Government ministers of Bulgaria Candidates for President of Bulgaria