site.btaMedia Regulator Approves New Management Board for National Radio

Meeting on Monday, the Council for Electronic Media approved a new complement of the the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) Management Board nominated by BNR Director General Milen Mitev.

"After last year CEM entrusted me with a second successive term as head of BNR, it was particularly important for me to select a Management Board so as to avoid the risk of the radio clamming up, focusing on its own daily light, and will not stop its development as a modern public-service media outlet," Mitev told BTA's Vanya Suharova.

"I therefore nominated colleagues of varied professional experience gained at various media and regulators so that together we can move on the National Radio," he added.

The new complement of the Management Board was unanimously approved by CEM. Two of the five members of the regulator, however: Prolet Velkova and Kadrinka Kadrinova, voted in favour with reservations, arguing that Mitev's nominees do not include an identifiable BNR staffer who is versed in the operation of the public-service radio station. 

"It is normal to have doubts, it is normal that there should be great expectations at any time when a new management of a public-service media outlet is elected. We must treat such expectations with the relevant responsibility," Mitev said.

The new Management Board consists of Anna Hadzhieva, Daniel Spasov, Dimitar Abrashev, and Sofia Vladimirova.

Anna Hadzhieva is experienced in business reporting and investigative journalism at the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) and has specialized at BBC and the University of Delaware. She was a member of CEM in 2001-2004 and in 2009-2016 and a member of the Communications Regulation Commission (2020-2025).

Daniel Spasov has worked as an editor, managing editor and executive producer at BNT. He is also a successful performer of Bulgarian folk songs and Church Slavonic chants, having recorded over 350 folk songs at BNR and having staged numerous concerts at home and abroad. A long-serving soloist of the BNT Vocal Choir, world famous for its contribution to Marcel Cellier's Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares.

Dimitar Abrashev holds a BA in Pedagogy and MAs in Political Science, Journalism and Public Relation. On BTA's staff for 20 years, he has been covering developments in public security and the judiciary. Since 2016 he has been anchoring a daily show at the Bulgaria ON AIR TV. He has taught media conduct, media planning, corporate, institutional and crisis PR at the National Institute of Justice and the Rakovski National Defence College.
 
Sofia Vladimirova's previous positions include a reporting internship at BNR, a stint as a culture reporter at a daily newspaper, and a scriptwriter for a PR producer firm. She was member of CEM from 2010 to 2013 and was elected to the Council again in 2016, serving as CEM Chair for three consecutive terms (2017-2020).