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Blagomir Kotsev

Blagomir Kotsev

Blagomir Kotsev, born on 22 March 1978, is a Bulgarian economist, entrepreneur and member of We Continue the Change.

Born
1978 (48 years), Varna
Party
We Continue the Change
Office
Mayor of Varna Municipality 2023–
Education
American University, City, University of London
Political position

Centre · Where sources place the party (We Continue the Change)
No placement found; centre taken from his party, We Continue the Change
Ideology: liberalism, anti-corruption, pro-Europeanism

<1%Probability · Bulgaria Presidential Election 2026

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He was District Governor of Varna Province in 2022 and has been Mayor of Varna since 13 November 2023. As of 6 October 2026 he is not among the registered candidate pairs Wikipedia lists for the 25 October 2026 presidential election.

Career

Kotsev worked as an economist and entrepreneur before entering politics. The government of Kiril Petkov appointed him District Governor of Varna Province on 24 February 2022, and he served until 4 August 2022. He was elected Mayor of Varna in 2023 on the ticket of We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria and took office on 13 November 2023 as the city's 50th mayor. BTA notes he was one of very few opposition mayors, alongside the mayor of Sofia.

Controversies

Police arrested Kotsev on 8 July 2025 in a corruption case. Prosecutors charged him with taking part in an organised criminal group engaged in abuse of office, bribery and money laundering, and filed an indictment in November 2025. A court in Varna released him on bail of 200,000 leva on 27 November 2025 after about four and a half months in custody. He told the court he had done nothing illegal and believes the trial will clear his name. Wikipedia reports that the proceedings were reopened by Varna District Court after a pause in March 2026; the case is pending.

Summarised automatically from the linked sources. Wikipedia · BTA · Wikipedia

Photo: Jellybeanslover, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons (cropped)

  1. Blagomir Kotsev <1%
100%50%0%

Jan 2026May 2026Oct 2026

Bulgaria Presidential Election 2026

OutcomeLeft – RightAgeProbability
Iliana IotovaCentre-left6189%
Аndrey GyurovCentre12%
Kostadin KostadinovFar right47<1%
Nikolai Denkov<1%
Rosen Zhelyazkov<1%
Natalia Kiselova<1%
Yanaki Stoilov<1%
Krum Zarkov<1%
Atanas Atanasov<1%
Boyko Borissov<1%
Delyan Peevski<1%
Blagomir KotsevCentre48<1%

All 14 outcomes

Related races

  1. Bulgaria Presidential Election First Round Winner Blagomir Kotsev 1%
  2. Bulgaria Presidential Election First Round Winner Iliana Iotova 81%
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