The previous head of BNR, Milen Mitev, remains general director of public radio for a second 3-year term.
Three of the five members of the CEM voted for him today. Gabriela Naplatanova, Kudrinka Kudrinova and Galina Georgieva voted for Mitev and thus elected him for another three years in the leadership post.
Galina Georgieva saw determination in the concepts of all the candidates. She voted for Milen Mitev, who, according to her, fully meets the requirements of the high office. He has undeniably a wealth of administrative experience and I believe he will maintain standards of objectivity and credibility, she said.
For Kudrinka Kudrinova, Mitev has given answers to even the most burning questions, without keeping silent about the obstacles that are difficult to overcome. “I highly appreciate everyone’s qualities and professionalism. But my choice is Milen Mitev, who with his balanced view of all problems, with his strategic view of dealing with them, won my trust,” explained Kudrinova.
Prolet Velkova did not find enough good arguments to vote for any of the candidates, despite all the good ones in their concepts. But she emphasized what is missing in her opinion – the ability to make difficult decisions.
“I appreciate very well the strong features of Milen Mitev, but there is something that, in my opinion, cannot be ignored – he gave an opportunity to a presenter to campaign for years. At the same time, a campaign with the funds of all citizens in our country. Thus he cultivated not an audience, but an electorate. The worst thing is that this air was saturated with untruths, hostile speech, setting some groups of society against others. We witnessed the other day how Maria Tsantsarova was attacked. She fought back, as did her media, and deserved congratulations, said Prolet Velkova. If Milen Mitev had given this resistance, I would have voted for her with both hands, and now I can’t even with one,” explained Velkova.
Simona Veleva voted for Iva Doichinova-Dimitrova, who, in her words, presented clear solutions and an approach to the future development of the radio. “She combines both the experience in the BNR and that of key positions. The modern look that she presented impressed me,” Veleva explained. And she added: “The current director also has his advantages, but I cannot ignore the huge IT collapse, the lack of an overall concept for the individual programs, the unsatisfactory financial statements.”
Gabriela Naplatanova, who is acting chairman of the CEM, explained that for her all candidates meet the requirements for the position. “The current general director Milen Mitev made a strong request to be a guarantor of the sustainability of the BNR, for the radio to be an information leader and to stand behind significant causes,” she said. He showed a strong character to lead the radio at a key moment, guaranteeing a plurality of viewpoints Naplatanova said.
Milen Mitev was born on March 4, 1984. He graduated with a degree in “Law” from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. He started working in BNR in 2009 as a legal consultant. From August 2018 to July 2019, he was the director of the Legal and Human Resources Directorate of the BNR. From September 2019 to March 2020, he worked at BTA, first as chief legal advisor, and then as chief secretary Since April 1, 2020, he has been the director of the Administrative Directorate of the BNR.
In December 2023, Mitev became the first Bulgarian elected as a member of the Governing Council of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the largest organization of public media in the world. He is also a member of the Legal Committee and the Radio Committee of the EBU.
Last month, the Union of Bulgarian National Electronic Media (SBNEM) unanimously elected him as its chairman.