Kirill Vilchev, founder of the Odessa Press Club, has become a candidate for vice president of Bulgaria

Kiril Vilchev, head of the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, has become a candidate for vice president of Bulgaria. In 2023, he personally opened a BTA press club in Odesa to support the local Bulgarian community.

This was reported by the Institute for Danube Studies. 

Bulgarian President Iliana Yotova, who is running for a full presidential term, announced Kiril Vilchev as her vice presidential candidate. The election is scheduled for October 25, 2026.

Vilchev is known as a lawyer, journalist, public figure, and head of one of Bulgaria’s leading state media institutions. His professional career is closely tied to Odesa and the Bulgarian community. 

In June 2023, already in the midst of a full-scale war, he personally opened the BTA National Press Club in Odesa, staffed by a permanent correspondent. According to him, this decision was a sign of Bulgaria’s support for the Bulgarian community in Ukraine. Subsequently, the Odesa press club became a permanent venue for informational, cultural, and community events. In 2024, the 19th World Meeting of Bulgarian Media began here, with some of the events also taking place in Bolhrad and Izmail.

Vitaliy Barvinenko, director of the Institute for Danube Studies, noted that Vilchev’s nomination as a candidate for vice president of Bulgaria has much broader significance for Odesa than a mere personnel development within the Bulgarian election campaign. 

During our meetings, I have repeatedly seen for myself that Mr. Vilchev has a deep understanding of the potential of Ukrainian-Bulgarian relations and the strategic importance of Odesa for their development. “This concerns not only historical and cultural ties, but also transportation, Danube logistics, Ukraine’s recovery, educational and humanitarian projects, cooperation between communities, and the protection of the rights of national communities,” he said. 

In his view, Vilchev’s potential election could create an additional institutional channel between Sofia, Kyiv, Odesa, and the communities of the Ukrainian Danube region, since the constitutional powers of the Vice President of Bulgaria traditionally include an important humanitarian and social component, particularly engagement with Bulgarians living abroad.

Earlier, Yevhen Tomak , a native of the Odesa region who became Romania’s prime minister on June 5, resigned. He had 10 days to form a new government and convince the parliamentary parties to grant him a vote of confidence, but it appears he realized he had failed to do so.

Юлія Калабайда