Rosen Asenov Plevneliev ( bg, Росен Асенов Плевнелиев ; born 14 May 1964) 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 who was the 4th

President of Bulgaria The president of the Republic of Bulgaria is the head of state of Bulgaria and the commander-in-chief of the Bulgarian Army. The official residence of the president is at Boyana Residence, Sofia. After the completion of the second round of votin ...

, holding the position from January 2012 to January 2017. He was the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works from July 2009 to September 2011 as part of the cabinet of Boyko Borisov. In October 2011, Plevneliev was elected as President in a second round of voting; he was inaugurated on 18 January 2012.

Biography

Rosen Plevneliev was born in

Gotse Delchev Georgi Nikolov Delchev (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian/Macedonian language, Macedonian: Георги/Ѓорѓи Николов Делчев; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев ...

. His mother, Slavka Plevnelieva, was a teacher, and his father, Asen Plevneliev, was an activist of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

. He relocated to

Blagoevgrad Blagoevgrad ( bg, Благоевград ) is а town in Southwestern Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Blagoevgrad Municipality and of Blagoevgrad Province. With a population of almost inhabitants, it is the economic and cultural centre ...

alongside his parents when he turned 10 years old. His family descended from

Bulgarian Bulgarian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria * Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group * Bulgarian language, a Slavic language * Bulgarian alphabet * A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria * Bul ...

refugees from southern Macedonia who resettled from today's village of Petrousa in the municipality of

Prosotsani Prosotsani ( el, Προσοτσάνη, until 1925: el, Προσωτσάνη - ''Prosotsani'', from 1925 until 1940: el, Πυρσόπολις - ''Pyrsopolis'') is a municipality and town within the municipality located in the western part of the ...

in Drama regional unit,

Greek Macedonia Macedonia (; el, Μακεδονία, Makedonía ) is a geographic and former administrative region of Greece, in the southern Balkans. Macedonia is the largest and Greek geographic region, with a population of 2.36 million in 2020. It is ...

, in 1913. The Plevneliev family name refers to the Bulgarian name of the village Petroussa, Plevnya (Плевня, "barn"). Plevneliev studied at

Mathematical and Natural Sciences High School, from which he graduated in 1982. In 1989 he graduated from the Higher Mechanical-Electrotechnical Institute,

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 ha ...

, and in the same year become a fellow at the Institute for Microprocessing Technology,

Pravets Pravets or Pravetz ( bg, Правец, also transliterated as Pravec, ) is a town in Pravets Municipality in central western Bulgaria, located approximately from the capital Sofia. Pravets is home town of Pravetz computers. Pravets has a populat ...

. While studying in the university, he was a

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

member of the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...

. After the political changes, in 1990, Plevneliev started a private building company in Bulgaria. Among other projects, the company built the Sofia Business Park. He was married to the journalist

Yuliyana Plevnelieva Yuliyana Plevnelieva ( bg, Юлияна Юриева Плевнелиева; born 28 January 1975) is a Bulgarian journalist and First Lady of Bulgaria from 2012 until 2017. She is the ex-wife of former Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, whom ...

from 2000 until their divorce in 2017; they had three sons: Filip, Asen and Pavel. One of the sons, Filip, died in 2015 at the age of 14. In addition to his native

, he speaks

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

fluently.

Political career

Plevneliev became Minister of Regional Development and Public Works under 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 his ...

on 27 July 2009. Minister Plevneliev was one of a handful of"reformers"in the government, together with Deputy Prime Minister

, the Minister of Economy Traicho Traikov and the Minister of Environment Nona Karadzhova. He was announced as

GERB GERB ( bg, ГЕРБ, translation=coat of arms, acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) is a conservative, Populism, populist List of political parties in Bulgaria, political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria betwee ...

's candidate for

on 4 September 2011. He subsequently won the

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

in a second round held on 30 October 2011, with a majority of 52.58% of the vote. He defeated Ivaylo Kalfin from the Bulgarian Socialist Party in the second round. He took the presidential oath on 19 January 2012 and officially took over from his predecessor

Georgi Parvanov Georgi Sedefchov Parvanov ( bg, Георги Седефчов Първанов, ) (born 28 June 1957) is a Bulgarian historian and politician who was President of Bulgaria from 2002 to 2012. He was elected after defeating incumbent Petar Sto ...

on 22 January 2012. Among his priorities are administrative reforms, energy efficiency and energy independence and removing of ambassadors of Bulgaria in foreign countries who have served as secret agents during the Communist regime. As a result of the 2013 Bulgarian protests against monopoly and high electricity prices, the conservative government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov tendered its resignation on 20 February 2013. President Plevneliev, acting in accordance with the constitution, offered a mandate to form a new government within the term of the current Parliament to

, BSP and

DPS DPS may refer to: Schools United States * Dalton Public Schools, the public school district in Dalton, Georgia * Dearborn Public Schools, the public school district in Dearborn, Michigan * Decatur Public Schools District 61, the public school sys ...

but after each of them declined, Plevneliev appointed a caretaker government on 13 March 2013, with

Marin Raykov Marin Raykov Nikolov ( bg, Марин Райков Николов ; born 17 December 1960 in Washington, D.C., United States) is a Bulgarian politician and diplomat who was appointed to serve as a caretaker Prime Minister of Bulgaria and minis ...

, the Bulgarian ambassador in Paris as Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2013, due to the prolonged protests against the involvement of oligarchy in politics and the government, Plevneliev organised the 'Dialogue with citizens' initiative, which involved three debates, focused on market economy, the judicial system and media freedom. Plevneliev advocates for closer relations between Bulgaria and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Plevneliev has frequently criticized the immigration policy in the UK set by the former Prime Minister,

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. By appointing the Bliznashki Government on 6 August 2014, Plevneliev has become the first President of Bulgaria to appoint more than one

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

Controversies

In January 2014 the tax authorities launched an investigation on President Rosen Plevneliev and his relatives. This action was perceived as politically motivated assault by the

Oresharski Government The Oresharski Government was the eighty-ninth cabinet of Bulgaria which took office on 29 May 2013. The government, led by Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski, is one of technocrats created following the 2013 election. The cabinet was dissolved o ...

. Other reformist members of the Boyko Borisov government were also subject to such investigations.

Honours

Foreign honours

Honor of Nation Order The "Honour of the Nation" Decoration ( sq, Dekorata "Nderi i Kombit") is the highest decoration to be given in Albania, among the Civil awards and decorations of Albania, and was instituted by special law No. 8113, of 28 March 1996, entitled ''Pë ...

*: Grand Collar of the

Order of the Southern Cross Emperor Pedro I of Brazil founded the National Order of the Southern Cross ( pt, Ordem Nacional do Cruzeiro do Sul) as a Brazilian order of chivalry on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate the independence of Brazil (7 September 1822) ...

Grand Order of King Tomislav The Grand Order of King Tomislav ( hr, Velered kralja Tomislava), or officially the Grand Order of King Tomislav with Sash and Great Morning Star (''Velered kralja Tomislava s lentom i Velikom Danicom''), is the highest state order of Croatia. It ...

*: Grand Cross (Special Class) of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

*: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

*: Order for Exceptional Merits *: Companion of Honour of the National Order of Merit *:

Order of St. George The Order of Saint George (russian: Орден Святого Георгия, Orden Svyatogo Georgiya) is the highest military decoration of the Russian Federation. Originally established on 26 November 1769 Julian (7 December 1769 Gregorian) a ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Official site of the PresidencyVideo for President candidacy
YouTube , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Plevneliev, Rosen 1964 births Bulgarian businesspeople Bulgarian engineers Eastern Orthodox Christians from Bulgaria GERB politicians Government ministers of Bulgaria Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Living people Macedonian Bulgarians People from Gotse Delchev Presidents of Bulgaria Technical University, Sofia alumni Recipients of the Order of the Star of Romania Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class