site.btaUPDATED Council for Electronic Media Launches New Procedure for Bulgarian National Television Director General Election

The Council for Electronic Media (CEM) unanimously voted to initiate a new procedure for the election of a director general of the Bulgarian National Television (BNT), after none of the eight candidates received the required support in a series of votes held on Tuesday. The CEM sitting was held in implementation of the Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling from June 23, 2025.

The current decision comes after CEM members, Simona Veleva, Gabriela Naplatanova, Galina Georgieva, Kadrinka Kadrinova, and Prolet Velkova, failed to elect a director general in accordance with a procedure initiated in 2022. Under a court-mandated voting format, each member could vote only “in favor” or “against” each candidate, abstentions were not permitted.

The eight candidates considered during Tuesday’s sessions were the current acting BNT Director General Emil Koshlukov, Sasho Dikov, Irina Velichkova, Sasho Yovkov, Vasilena Matakieva, Venelin Petkov, Krasimir Angelov, and Svetlana Bozhilova. During three consecutive sessions, held at 11:00 a.m., 12:43 p.m., and 13:46 p.m., none of the nominees obtained the minimum of three votes required for election.

In line with the Radio and Television Act, the CEM had to reconvene multiple times with the same agenda. Despite repeated voting rounds, the outcome remained unchanged. As a result, the Council resolved to open a new election procedure for the position.

The deadline for submission of application documents is September 12, 2025. On October 2, CEM will make a decision on which applicants meet the requirements. By October 9, the Council will determine which candidates are admitted to the hearing phase. Candidate hearings are scheduled for October 14 and 15, and the final decision on the appointment of BNT next director general is to be made no later than October 16, 2025.

The competition for BNT's top post has been ongoing since 2022 when Koshlukov's previous term in office ended. As no candidate has received the neccessary votes since then, Koshlukov remained in office as acting Director General. A number of court appeals surrounded the election process.