Leadership change at "Bulgartransgaz" after more than eight years with Vladimir Malinov

After more than eight years at the helm of "Bulgartransgaz" - with a short break while he was caretaker energy minister - Vladimir Malinov has been removed from his post, Mediapool has learned from two independent sources. Replacing him will be Kiril Ravnachki, who headed the state gas operator while Malinov held a ministerial post and who is currently a member of the company's management board. Darina Koleva has also been removed from the board. The two new members are Rosen Petkov, who is allegedly close to the director of the "Bulgarian Energy Holding" (BEH) Andrey Zhivkov, and Lachezar Georgiev - a lecturer at the University of Mining and Geology with experience in drilling activities.

The decision was made by the company's supervisory board, which was replaced by the operator's owner - BEH - two weeks ago, and it was logically expected that changes would follow in the operational management of "Bulgartransgaz" (BTG). The removal of Malinov and Koleva was voted on at a meeting on Monday, and the decision has already been submitted for approval to the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission, which, however, has returned it for additional documentation. Only after the regulator's ruling will the registration documents be submitted to the Commercial Register.

Malinov took the helm of "Bulgartransgaz" in February 2018 following the sudden death of the then-director Georgi Gegov. Since then, he maintained the position under a series of regular and caretaker governments, implementing the project for the extension of the "Turkish Stream" gas pipeline on Bulgarian territory to Serbia, through which "Gazprom" continues to export natural gas to Europe, though this will be banned by the European Union starting next year. He was also behind the project for the Vertical Gas Corridor for the transport of American liquefied gas from Greece through Bulgaria to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Currently, "Bulgartransgaz" is working mainly on expanding the capacity of its transmission network, but the first tender for capacity reservation showed that despite the reserved quantities being double compared to the previous gas year, they remain below the volume from before the increase.

Malinov's name became widely known in connection with the scandal surrounding the European Public Prosecutor's Office's audit of the public procurement for the expansion of the Chiren gas storage facility, won by "Glavbolgarstroy". The alert concerned the change in the terms of the tender, which saved the contractor between BGN 80 and 90 million. After the searches at the gas operator in the summer of 2024 and the freezing of the tender - a decision made personally by Malinov, then already Minister of Energy - "Glavbolgarstroy" withdrew from the contract. Upon his return to the company, a new tender for the drilling was announced with changed parameters, which was subsequently terminated as the gas operator assessed that the bids of all three candidates contained problems.

Meanwhile, the European Public Prosecutor's Office has not published any information regarding the audit of "Chiren", but Bulgarian prosecutor Teodora Georgieva, who publicly stated that she felt threatened by DPS leader Delyan Peevski due to the investigation into the drilling for the expansion of the "Chiren" gas storage facility, was removed. According to her, "there was evidence that Delyan Peevski wanted BGN 20 million from subcontractors on the project," and the problem stemmed from the fact that he was arranging who would win and pressuring the companies.

Malinov himself denies having been pressured regarding "Chiren" and expresses bewilderment as to why the European Public Prosecutor's Office is investigating him.

Currently, a fourth procedure is underway for the drilling in Chiren, in which two candidates who also appeared in the previous tender are participating. Their technical proposals were opened on June 1, 2026, but the price offers have not yet been, according to the data in the public procurement register.

The new Minister of Energy, Iva Petrova, announced at the beginning of June that there are many questions surrounding the expansion of the gas storage facility and that she will appoint an audit. Whether it has been completed and what the results are is not clear for now, but the removal of Malinov and the inclusion in the management of someone with experience in drilling like Lachezar Georgiev suggests that it is not excluded that the last tender will also be terminated.