site.btaVesela Karaivanova-Nacheva Elected to Head National Social Security Ivaylo Zdravkov Elected Deputy

On Thursday, Parliament elected Vesela Karaivanova-Nacheva as director of the National Social Security Institute (NSSI) and Ivaylo Zdravkov as deputy director for a four-year term.

The candidacy of Karaivanova-Nacheva, proposed by GERB-UDF and BSP-United Left, was supported by 141 MPs, 48 were against and four abstained. Until now, she was deputy director of the NSSI.

Zdravkov, nominated again by GERB-UDF and BSP-United Left, was elected with 118 votes in favour, 71 against, and 16 abstentions. Until now, he was regional governor of Veliko Tarnovo.

The procedure for electing new leadership of the NSSI was initiated in mid-June in view of the expiry of the terms of office of the current governor, Ivaylo Ivanov, on September 19, 2021, and of the deputy governor, Karaivanova-Nacheva, on July 21, 2024.

On July 17, the candidates for director and deputy director of the NSSI, Karaivanova-Nacheva and Zdravkov, presented their concepts for managing the institution to the members of the parliamentary Labour and Social Policy Committee.

Karaivanova-Nacheva has a degree in Accounting from the University of National and World Economy. She began her professional career as an economist in 1989. From 1992 to 2004, she worked in the tax administration in various positions. She was a member of the 39th National Assembly from the Plovdiv region. By a decision of Parliament, she was elected deputy director of the NSSI in 2005 and re-elected in 2009, 2016, and 2020. Alongside her work as deputy director, from 2011 to 2016 she also served as director of the Guaranteed Receivables of Workers and Employees Fund.

Zdravkov graduated in economics from the Dimitar Apostolov Tsenov Academy of Economics in Svishtov and in law from Veliko Tarnovo University. He began his professional career in 2000 in the field of consulting. In 2002, he was a judicial candidate at the Veliko Tarnovo Regional Court, and from 2003 to 2010, he held various management positions at the State Receivables Agency, based in Veliko Tarnovo, at the Regional Directorate in Ruse. From 2010 to 2023, he was part of the team of the National Revenue Agency in the territorial directorate in Veliko Tarnovo, which he headed from early 2016 to July 2023. He was appointed regional governor of the Veliko Tarnovo region in 2023.

Karaivanova-Nacheva's candidacy for director of the National Social Security Institute was supported by GERB-UDF, 12 MPs from Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB), MRF-New Beginning, BSP-United Left, There is Such a People (TISP) ,Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, and three non-members of a parliamentary group. Opposed were Vazrazhdane, MECh, Velichie, as well as one MP from CC-DB. Four other MPs from CC-DB abstained.

GERB-UDF, MRF-New Beginning, BSP-United Left, the Alliance for Rights and Freedoms and three non-members of parliamentary groups voted in favour of Zdravkov's nomination as deputy director of the NSSI. One MP from the CC-DB also supported his candidacy, while 23 from the group were against it. The Vazrazhdane, MECh, and Velichie parties were also against his election, while TISP abstained.