Interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev has temporarily appointed chief commissioner Darin Kostov as director of the Chief Directorate for Combating Organised Crime (GDBOP), the directorate said. The order is dated 3 November.
Chief commissioner Martin Zlatkov was director until now, and Kostov was his deputy.
Kostov joined the police in 1999 as an officer in the Border Police Department in Malko Tarnovo. In 2001 he moved to an operational post in the Border Police Chief Directorate.
He came to GDBOP in 2010 as an inspector in the Counterfeiting section and headed that section from 2016. He then spent three years as head of the Countering Economic Crime section at the Interior Ministry's Regional Directorate in Sofia.
His next post was head of the Economic Crime department at the Sofia Capital Directorate of Internal Affairs. His biography on the GDBOP website says he showed leadership qualities and expert knowledge in law enforcement there.
On 13 March this year Kostov returned to GDBOP as deputy director. He was responsible for planning and running special operations against serious and organised crime.
He has a bachelor's degree from Burgas Free University and a master's degree in national security protection from the Interior Ministry Academy. He has taken part in many training courses in Bulgaria and abroad.
On 20 October GDBOP and State Agency for National Security (DANS) officers entered the municipality building in Sungurlare and seized documents and other materials. The public procurement investigation led to the detention of mayor Dimitar Gavazov.
His direct superiors, the Interior Ministry's chief secretary and the interior minister, have honoured him many times. He has received certificates and plaques for successful joint operations and his overall contribution to the fight against crime from the US Secret Service, the Southeast European Law Enforcement Center and Europol.