Kiril Petkov

Kiril Petkov
Кирил Петков
Official portrait, 2022
Prime Minister of Bulgaria
In office 13 December 2021 – 2 August 2022
President	Rumen Radev
Deputy	Asen Vasilev Korneliya Ninova Borislav Sandov Grozdan Karadjov Kalina Konstantinova
Preceded by	Stefan Yanev
Succeeded by	Galab Donev
Member of the National Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 October 2022
Constituency	23rd MMC - Sofia
Leader of We Continue the Change
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 September 2021 Serving with Asen Vasilev
Preceded by	Position established
Minister of Economy and Industry
In office 12 May 2021 – 16 September 2021
Prime Minister	Stefan Yanev
Preceded by	Lachezar Borisov
Succeeded by	Daniela Vezieva
Personal details
Born	Kiril Petkov Petkov (1980-04-17) 17 April 1980 (age 44) Plovdiv, PR Bulgaria
Citizenship	Bulgarian Canadian (until 2021)
Political party	PP (since 2021)
Spouse	Linda Petkova ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	3
Alma mater	University of British Columbia (BCom) Harvard Business School (MBA)
Occupation	Politician economist entrepreneur

Kiril Petkov Petkov (Bulgarian: Кирил Петков Петков; born 17 April 1980) is a Bulgarian politician, economist, and entrepreneur, who served as Prime Minister of Bulgaria from December 2021 to August 2022.^[1] He is the co-leader of We Continue the Change, a political party he co-founded with Asen Vasilev.

Petkov was born in Plovdiv, but grew up in Sofia and was educated by his parents, who were both teachers. He grew up with grandparents from different parts of his family. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree in finance from the University of British Columbia and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard University.

Petkov and Vasilev stated that they would start their own political project that would be an alternative anti-corruption party which could be seen as a "uniting force" between the other parties. Petkov, together with Asen Vasilev, they both formed the coalition We Continue the Change in late September 2021. Beforehand, they held temporary ministerial posts in Stefan Yanev's government. Stopping corruption, creating more possibilities for small and medium-sized firms, and luring high-tech investments have been the party's top concerns.^[2]

He became prime minister after the 2021 Bulgarian general election, which his party reached a deal to form a coalition with the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the populist There is Such a People (ITN) and the liberal Democratic Bulgaria, united under the motto "zero tolerance to corruption", for a four-year term Together, they have 134 seats in Bulgaria’s 240-seat parliament.^[3] During his tenure, he opted for "real diversification" by constructing a gas interconnector from Komotini to Stara Zagora together with Kyriakos Mitsotakis, which Azeri gas would pass through.^[4][5] In foreign policy, Petkov advocated his support for Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and anonymously supplied it because of the pro-Moscow politicians in government.^[6] His coalition government collapsed in June 2022 and put the blame on Russia and the Bulgarian mafia.^[7]