A meeting of the Council for Electronic Media to elect a Director General of the Bulgarian National Television is scheduled for today at 11 am.
Five candidates submitted their documents to participate in the selection procedure - the current head of BNT Emil Koshlukov, Svilena Dimitrova, Sasho Yovkov, Nevena Andonova and Milena Milotinova.
The hearings of the candidates for the position were held yesterday. Sasho Yovkov did not appear.
If none of the candidates receives at least three votes from the members of the Council for Electronic Media, a second meeting of the Council will be scheduled 30 minutes later. In the event that a director general of BNT is not elected at that meeting, a new meeting will also be scheduled 30 minutes later.
Since no candidate was elected in the procedure for the election of the head of the public television in 2022, and a fourth-year legal saga followed, director general Emil Koshlukov continues to head BNT. According to the Radio and Television Act, he will remain in office until a new director general is elected. The CEM decided to announce the new election procedure on July 15 last year.
At the hearing yesterday, Koshlukov described the ongoing procedure as flawed and illegitimate,
since there are pending legal proceedings. He also said that he appeared at the hearing out of respect for the institution and his colleagues on television.
Chairwoman of the Bulgarian Broadcasting Commission Simona Velevawas categorical thatthe procedure was being carried out in conditions of "stability and legality".
At the hearing, the candidates presented their vision for the development of BNT and answered questions. Veleva stated that according to the regulator's rules, Sasho Yovkov's failure to appear at the hearing is considered a refusal to participate in the procedure.