This week, prosecutors from all over the country will gather to hear the 25 candidates for the four prosecutor positions in the new Supreme Judicial Council (SJC).
One of the main topics that excites them is how to grow their careers in the prosecutor's office. That is why it occupies a significant part of the concepts of all candidates – dozens of pages are written about the competitions for initial appointment, promotion, transfer and the selection of administrative heads. In them, there is essentially no candidate who has not promised fair competition, equality, predictability, consistency and clear rules for professional development.
However, how has the career path of the candidates themselves, who promise to uphold these values, progressed when hiring in the prosecutor's office?
„Lex“ checked the biographies that they themselves presented and other public information.
They show that eight of the candidates have grown in the prosecutorial hierarchy by being appointed as heads or deputy heads of a higher-level prosecutor's office. Another five have skipped levels in their career development, some even two. Some of the candidates have entered the prosecutor's office directly at the district or appellate level.
All these „deviations“ from the usual career path are legally permissible and do not necessarily mean a privilege or violation. Accordingly, following the classic career path is not proof of high professional and moral qualities.
However, the facts about how each of the candidates has gone through his path in the prosecutor's office so far are of key importance when his colleagues decide whether to give him their support in deciding their professional future. That is why “Lex“ presents them briefly.
To a higher position through election as administrative manager
Vladimir Nikolovbecame a junior prosecutor in the Regional Prosecutor's Office - Pleven in 2007, and then became a regular prosecutor there. In 2011, he was appointed deputy head of the Regional Prosecutor's Office - Pleven, and from 2012 to 2017 he was the regional prosecutor of Pleven. He ran for a second term as head of the Pleven District Prosecutor's Office, but on July 19, 2017, he did not receive the support of the Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Judicial Council.
His career growth took place in 2021, when he was elected as Pleven District Prosecutor (with six votes “for“ and three “against“), and the requirement of Art. 169, para. 1 of the Judicial System Act was not commented on at the meeting, according to which only exceptionally a lower-level magistrate can be elected as head of a higher judicial body.
In 2025, the then Acting Prosecutor General Borislav Sarafov submitted a proposal to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Nikolov for violations of the organization, management and control of the activities of the Pleven District Prosecutor's Office. On February 18, 2026, the Prosecutor's College punished him by dismissing him as head of the Pleven Regional Prosecutor's Office. Nikolov appealed and the case is still pending in the Supreme Administrative Court.
Todor Deyanov began his career in the judicial system in 2003 as a district judge in Smolyan. For two years, he headed the court, then was its deputy chief, and then chairman again.
He “entered” the prosecutor's office in 2013 directly as head of the Plovdiv District Prosecutor's Office. He received a second term in this position, but did not complete it, because in 2020 he was elected appellate prosecutor of Plovdiv. He spent 5 years in this position, and then briefly served as a regular prosecutor, but soon after became deputy chief of the appellate prosecutor's office.
He underwent a change in professional function - from judge to prosecutor, which led to his "ascent" to the district level, and then to the appellate level in the prosecutor's office after being elected to a management position.
Moving to a higher level through a deputy position
With Krasimira Filipova, there were two transitions to a higher level through appointments as deputy administrative head. She started working in the prosecutor's office as a junior prosecutor in Botevgrad, then became a district prosecutor there and moved without "moving up" to Kostinbrod. In the Regional Prosecutor's Office-Kostinbrod, she held a management position for the first time and in 2006 became Deputy Chief.
Four years later, she moved up the system and was appointed Deputy Chief of the District Prosecutor's Office - Sofia. After another four years, she went to a higher instance again, holding a management position - Deputy Chief of the Appellate Prosecutor's Office in Sofia.
She was promoted to the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office in 2019 through a competition, and a year later she became Deputy Chief Prosecutor.
Ivaylo Iliev, who is currently a seconded national expert at Eurojust, has made a career leap in the judiciary after holding a management position.
He entered the system as a junior prosecutor in 2010, then became a district prosecutor in Dupnitsa. He was briefly deputy chief of the prosecutor's office in Dupnitsa, and in 2016 he was elected district prosecutor of Kyustendil. Days after the end of his mandate, he was appointed deputy chief of the district prosecutor's office in the city. He remained in this position for about a year, when he was elected a delegated European prosecutor. Iliev gave up his job at the European prosecutor's office after about a year and was elected assistant to the national representative of Bulgaria at Eurojust.
Hristo Anchev, who currently heads the Military District Prosecutor's Office in Plovdiv, began his career in the judiciary as a junior prosecutor in 2001. He then became a district prosecutor in Plovdiv. After 9 years, he was seconded for three years to the district prosecutor's office in the city, but “climbed“ career ladder in the system with his appointment as Deputy Head of the Plovdiv Prosecutor's Office in 2015. Later he was also elected as its administrative head.
Daniela Popova started working in the judicial system in 2000 as a junior prosecutor in the Slivnitsa Prosecutor's Office. She then became a regular prosecutor there, in 2001 she was appointed Deputy Head of this prosecutor's office, and from 2003-2011 she was the district prosecutor of Slivnitsa.
In 2011 she started working as a prosecutor in the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, but only a year later she made a career leap by becoming Deputy Head of the Appellate Specialized Prosecutor's Office. At that time, the head of the ASP was Borislav Sarafov.
A year later, Sarafov became the deputy prosecutor general, and Daniela Popova was elected head of the ASP, which she was until 2018, when she resigned. She was appointed as a regular prosecutor in the ASP, and after its closure she was transferred to the AP-Sofia, and in the meantime she was seconded to the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office.
In 2022, she appeared in a competition for promotion to the VAP and was ranked. After the constitutional changes, the VAP was closed, the prosecutors “joined“ the VCP. For this reason, in December 2023, Daniela Popova was promoted to the VCP.
In May of last year, Popova was appointed as an acting prosecutor Appellate Prosecutor of Sofia, and on June 25, 2025, she was elected to the position.
Atanas Iliev started working in the judicial system in 2005 as an investigator in Pazardzhik. A year later, he was a prosecutor in the Velingrad District Prosecutor's Office, where he worked until 2012, when he was transferred to the Plovdiv District Prosecutor's Office. In the period 2018-2024, he was the Deputy District Prosecutor of Plovdiv.
He moved to the district level in June 2024 with his appointment as Deputy Head of the Smolyan District Prosecutor's Office.
Marina Nenkova„enters“ in the judiciary in 2016 after a competition for initial appointment and began working at the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office.
In December 2024, she was appointed Deputy City Prosecutor of Sofia, serving in this position until August this year, when she was released at her own request and appointed as a regular prosecutor at the SGP.
Her resignation from the leadership position came after in the summer of this year, during the discussions on the changes to the Judiciary Act in the Legal Committee of the National Assembly, there was an idea from “Progressive Bulgaria“ to “prohibit“ magistrates appointed from lower levels as chiefs or deputy chiefs of higher ones from remaining in the body they had led. Then the Minister of Justice Nikolay Naydenov announced that in view of this proposal for a change in the Law on the Judiciary, in a week about 80 mostly deputy administrative heads resigned from their posts in order to take advantage of the current legal framework, which allows them to remain as ordinary magistrates in higher-level bodies (see more here and here).
Jumping levels
The biographies of five of the candidates for the SJC show that they made a career leap by skipping a level in the system. In most cases, this happened after 2007, when competitions for promotion were introduced. Some candidates skipped one level - district or appellate, and others even two.
Dobrinka Kalcheva started working in the judicial system as an investigator in Plovdiv in 1999 and after six years became a district prosecutor in the city. In 2014, she was appointed to the Appellate Prosecutor's Office - Plovdiv.
Jovita Grigorova entered the judicial system as a district prosecutor in Pomorie. After 11 years, she joined the Appellate Prosecutor's Office in Burgas. She is currently its deputy chief.
Marinela Toteva began working in the judicial system in 2000 as a junior prosecutor in the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office. From 2002 to 2011, she was successively a prosecutor in the SRP and in the OP-Sofia.
In 2012, after a competition, she was promoted to the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office, and after the constitutional changes of 2023, she is a prosecutor in the Supreme Administrative Prosecutor's Office.
Ivanka Kotorova "entered" the judicial system in 1991 as a junior prosecutor in the Pirdop District Prosecutor's Office, and a year later she was already a regular prosecutor there. From 1996 to 1997 she was the deputy head of this prosecutor's office, and then she was transferred to the Sofia District Prosecutor's Office. In 1999, she became a prosecutor at the SGP.
Since 2004, she has been a prosecutor at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office.
Kotorova was the national correspondent for our country at Eurojust and the European Judicial Network (2013-2014), and since 2006, she has been the contact point for Bulgaria in the European Judicial Network in criminal matters.
Siika Mileva started as an investigator in the department at the SGP in 2006. In 2017, she was appointed as a prosecutor at the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, and after the election of Ivan Geshev as Prosecutor General, she was seconded to the Supreme People's Court, where she is his spokesperson. In 2022, she was promoted to the Supreme Judicial Council after a competition.
Initial appointment at a higher level
Milena Gamozova “entered“ the judicial system directly at the appellate level. She appeared in a competition for initial appointment to the appellate prosecutor's offices in 2014, when the JSA still provided for such an opportunity, and has been a prosecutor in the appellate prosecutor's office in Varna since then. Later, external competitions were legislatively limited to the district level.
Darin Hristov also started working in the judicial system after participating in an external competition, but for the district prosecutor's offices. Since 2012, he has been a prosecutor, first in the Burgas Prosecutor's Office, then from 2016 to 2022 in the General Prosecutor's Office, after which he returned to Burgas.
From court to higher prosecutorial level
Atanas Gebrev began his career in 1991 as an investigator and after 8 years he left the capital's investigation and became a judge at the Sofia Military Court. From the district level in the court, in 2007 he went to the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor's Office.
Plamen Evgeniev“entered“ the judicial system in 2001 as a junior prosecutor in the district prosecutor's offices in Elena and Veliko Tarnovo, then became a regular prosecutor in the latter. From 2011 to 2014, he was a prosecutor in the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, then he was transferred as a judge in the Specialized Criminal Court. After a competition in 2021, he became a prosecutor in the Appellate Specialized Prosecutor's Office, and in the meantime he was elected chairman of the Tryavna District Court. Since 2025, he has been a prosecutor in the Sofia Regional Court.
Over the years, Evgeniev has also participated in other procedures – was one of the candidates for head of the APA, but was not selected, he also appeared in competitions for promotion in the Supreme Administrative Court and in the criminal departments of the courts of appeal, but failed to qualify.
The careers of the remaining eight candidates are going along the usual path.
Blagovest Vangelovfirst worked as an assistant prosecutor in the AP-Varna, after an external competition he became a district prosecutor in Momchilgrad, was seconded to Sredets, then moved to Burgas. In 2015, he was elected district prosecutor of Pomorie. Then, after a competition, he was promoted to the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, and after its closure, he went to the Burgas Prosecutor's Office.
Ivan Taskov entered the judicial system in 1997 as an investigator, after 8 years he became a prosecutor in the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, and after another 8 years he was promoted to the State Prosecutor's Office.
Desislava Petrova, who is currently the deputy city prosecutor, began her career in the judicial system in 2007 as a junior prosecutor and successively became a prosecutor in the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, and then in the State Prosecutor's Office.
Ivaylo Angelov also started as an investigator, then he was a junior prosecutor and a prosecutor in the Pleven District Prosecutor's Office, then he was a prosecutor in the city's District Prosecutor's Office, and in 2015 he was promoted after a competition to the National Investigation Service. For a year he was the head of the Appellate Specialized Prosecutor's Office, and after its closure he became a prosecutor in the Sofia Regional Prosecutor's Office.
Dimitar Leshtakov was first an investigator in Svishtov, then became a prosecutor in the regional prosecutor's office in the city, followed by a promotion to the Veliko Tarnovo District Prosecutor's Office and since 2005 he has been a prosecutor in the Veliko Tarnovo Regional Prosecutor's Office.
Georgi Chinev has been a prosecutor since 2000, having successively been a junior prosecutor and prosecutor in the Burgas Regional Prosecutor's Office, where he was also deputy head. Since 2015 he has been in the city's regional prosecutor's office, and since 2018 he has been its administrative head.
Radoslav Gradev is also a career prosecutor. He was a junior prosecutor and prosecutor in the Ruse District Prosecutor's Office, in 2015 he was promoted to the city's District Prosecutor's Office, and since August 2025 he has been the head of the Ruse Regional Prosecutor's Office.
Plamen Petkov has been in the judicial system since 2004, first as an investigator in Yambol, then in the Sofia Investigation Service, and since 2006 as a prosecutor in the SRP. From 2018 to 2023 he was the Slivnitsa District Prosecutor, after the end of his mandate he returned to the SRP. At the beginning of the year he was one of the three selected as Bulgarian European Prosecutor, but the procedure was canceled.
Source: news.lex.bg