Bulgaria’s Tourism Minister Invites Deputy to Resign

Bulgarian Tourism Minister Nikolina Angelkova has expressed hopes that her deputy, Branimir Botev, will step down.

Speaking Thursday in Plovdiv at the opening of the annual international meeting of tour operators, she suggested that Botev had been appointed Deputy Tourism Minister at the insistence of Valeri Simeonov from nationalist formation the Patriotic Front.

Branimir Botev was appointed Deputy Minister of Economy and Energy in charge of tourism in July 2013 and kept his post in the caretaker government of Prime Minister Georgi Bliznashki, according to reports of Darik radio.

On November 20, 2014, Botev was appointed Deputy Tourism Minister by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

Botev's appointment triggered a protest declaration signed by a number of tour operators.

The international meeting of tour operators is to bring together 90 tour operators from 16 countries across the world.

Over 120 businesses representatives of local companies are to attend the meeting.

Industry representatives from the United Kingdom, Egypt, India, Russia, Morocco, Georgia, Italy, Montenegro, Denmark, Hungary, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania, Turkey, and Greece as well as an 18-member delegation from China, are expected to attend the event.