The governance of Gyurov and his future government is both a test and an opportunity for the PP-DB. A test because there are also mines that can explode. And a chance, because it can show the management capacity of the PP-DB.
Andrey Gyurov's official mandate begins as a mission for fair elections, but it could transform into a test of governance for the PP-DB - the political force that supported him as deputy governor of the BNB.
If a government is not formed after the early elections in April, President Yotova, who nominated Gyurov as prime minister of the 12th caretaker government in Bulgaria's recent history, will have to repeat her choice. In this hypothesis, Gyurov's cabinet could govern Bulgaria until late autumn.
Iliyana Yotova focused on the only one of the ten representatives of institutions and regulators who is not directly dependent on the status quo, in the person of GERB and MRF-New Beginning.
New Deputy Governor in the BNB
Now, however, the National Assembly will have to elect a new head of the BNB's "Issue" department to replace Gyurov. According to the latest changes to the BNB Law from nearly a year ago, if the governor or any of the three deputy governors, all of whom are included in the "house book" for the election of an acting prime minister, agrees to be appointed as such, they must resign from their position in the BNB. After the position is vacated, the parliament must elect a new one within 1 month after the end of the mandate, and by law the proposal is made by the governor of the central bank.
The new chairwoman of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) Assoc. Prof. Natalia Kiselova publicly stated that she expects Gyurov to resign. Recently, on bTV, the lecturer in European law Assoc. Prof. Hristo Hristev noted that if Andrey Gyurov undertakes the commitment to be the acting prime minister, he should leave the bank's management.
He is currently on unpaid leave due to a legal case that led to his temporary suspension, but his powers have not been terminated. The problem arose after the now-closed anti-corruption commission ruled that Gyurov had not met the deadlines for leaving commercial companies and organizations, which leads to doubts about incompatibility.
The Court of Justice of the EU is about to rule on the preliminary reference of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) on the interpretation of European legislation governing the rights of members of central bank management. After that, the SAC will have to issue a decision on the case, which is currently suspended.
A test for PP-DB
Gyurov's administration and his future government are both a test and an opportunity for PP-DB. Before being elected deputy governor, he was chairman of the parliamentary group of “We continue the change” (PP), and his political career started from “Yes, Bulgaria”, whose founder he was (together with Kiril Petkov and Lena Borislavova).
Without a doubt, the elections that are about to be scheduled are the big task before the caretaker government. It seems that before that, the restrictions on the number of sections in countries outside the EU, which GERB, “Vazrazhdane”, BSP and “Ima takvi narod” imposed in the Electoral Code, will be lifted. With the new leader of the socialists, Krum Zarkov, however, the BSP can leave this collusion and then the current order will be preserved. In the last parliamentary elections in 2024, the leaders of the vote abroad were the MRF - because of the votes from Turkey, and the PP-DB.
Every success of the caretaker cabinet will legitimize the governing capacity of the coalition, which was a driving force for the many thousands of protests at the end of 2025. But every scandal, personnel error or social upheaval will be used against the PP-DB. Their election campaign will be stimulated by the actions of the “Gyurov” cabinet, and the personnel changes - regional governors, heads of regional directorates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, etc., will show what kind of administrative capacity they have.
But there are also predictions that Gyurov may end up being part of Rumen Radev's political project, which will be an interesting development for his political career. The composition of the caretaker cabinet and its decisions will also reveal future political alliances. The most contested post will undoubtedly be that of Minister of Interior, for which the leader of the People's Party of Bulgaria, Asen Vassilev, announced on Bulgarian National Radio that Boyko Rashkov is a good choice.
The mines before the official government
Next week, when he takes office as Prime Minister, Andrey Gyurov will face his first significant decision - whether to attend the first meeting of the Peace Council, created by US President Donald Trump, on February 19. Bulgaria, along with Hungary, are the only EU members among its founders.
The invitation was sent to President Rumen Radev, but he missed it at the moment he was leaving “Dondukov” 2. However, Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev left for Davos. But subsequently Zhelyazkov did not submit the treaty for ratification - whether to ratify it will be decided by the next 52nd parliament, in which a political force led by Radev will also participate.
This week, Rosen Zhelyazkov declassified the government's decision to join the ”private UN”. Lawyers noticed that he was authorized to negotiate and sign a draft statute, but he signed a final version, and interpreted it as an excess of authority.
The other problem that arises almost every winter is high electricity bills, causing public discontent. The regulator KEVR is overwhelmed by complaints and pressure for inspections. At the same time, adequate support for the energy poor has not been introduced, and the full liberalization of electricity prices has been postponed again indefinitely.
What will happen if “Botas” decides to make claims for the unpaid hundreds of millions of dollars, as former Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov has warned? He announced on BNT that “Bulgargaz” regularly receives invoices from “Botas” for accrued fees (500,000 dollars per day for capacity that it does not use, b.a.), but does not pay them and does not even account for them. The agreement with the Turkish company, which is for 13 years and has no termination clause, was bequeathed by the office of President Rumen Radev.
Andrey Gyurov is facing political hardening.
This text expresses the opinion of the author and may not coincide with the positions of the Bulgarian editorial office and the State News Agency as a whole.