Bulgaria’s Former Interim PM Andrey Gyurov Confirms Presidential Bid

Bulgarian Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov attends a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 30 March 2026. Photo: EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO After months of speculation, Bulgaria’s former interim Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov announced on Tuesday that he will run in the presidential elections on October 25. He will likely be the main rival to acting President Iliana Iotova who will be seeking a full mandate. “The answer is yes, I will run, but the more important question is ‘why’… I don’t dream of a career, I dream of us leaving our children a united, honourable and modern Bulgaria, which is centred around the economy of knowledge and its biggest asset – the people,” said Gyurov. “We can’t let our differences turn us into mutual enemies. Bulgaria can do so much better,” he added. His two-month stint as caretaker prime minister in early 2026 was marked by a crackdown on fraudulent voting ahead of the general elections in April and the signing of a cooperation agreement with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in March. Gyurov will run with the former chief secretary general to the Interior Ministry, Georgi Kandev, as his designated vice-president. The duo – expected to lead a pro-EU and reformist campaign in opposition to the government of current Prime Minister Rumen Radev – announced their campaign in their common home town of Gotse Delchev in south-west Bulgaria, named after a revolutionary Ottoman-era hero celebrated in both Bulgaria and North Macedonia. The announcement ended months of speculation over their political futures. Rumours started as early as April, while Gyurov was still interim prime minister, with his name widely mentioned as a potential presidential candidate by analysts and fellow politicians. Since his caretaker term, Gyurov has been noticeable for his carefully curated social media and public presence: from visiting festivals and endorsing cultural events to running in marathons and reuniting with his baseball youth team – moves seen as aimed at engaging pro-EU, liberal, urban voters. Born in 1975, he built a career spanning banking and financial academia, moving from work as an analyst and credit-risk expert in Vienna to lecturing and directing financial programmes in Bulgaria. He entered parliamentary politics in November 2021 as a member of the reformist and then newly-founded We Continue the Change party, which the won the general elections. He left the party in 2023 and was then appointed deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank. In 2026, he left that position to become interim prime minister, chosen by President Iliana Iotova – herself in a new role after Rumen Radev left the president’s office to successfully run in the general elections with his Progressive Bulgaria party. Now, Gyurov and Iotova, supported by Progressive Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, will be the main opponents in the 2026 presidential elections. Gyurov’s designated vice-president, Kandev – also born in 1975 – has held various positions in the Interior Ministry since 1999. He left his last position as chief secretary in June, claiming he had been subjected to political pressure by Radev’s office, but the issue was ultimately left unexplained. A month and a half before the elections, it’s unclear whether the two men will be supported by the otherwise fragmented centre-right. The Democratic Bulgaria party and Gyurov’s former partners from We Continue the Change have previously stated that they will support their bid. The lack of a candidate from the longstanding dominant party GERB might also be to their benefit, but Boyko Borissov’s party has yet to make its opinion public.