Veselin Mareshki

The candidate backed by Bulgaria's biggest opposition force is widening his lead on Tsetska Tsacheva, the contender of the main ruling party, the final count shows.

With 100% of ballot protocols processed, Rumen Radev's support is estimated at 25.43%, while Tsacheva has earned 21.96% of the vote, the Central Election Commission (CEC) says [BG].

Bulgaria's second-largest opposition party DPS has said it throws its support behind the socialist-backed candidate in the presidential elections.

Rumen Radev has emerged as a winner of the first round, defeating Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's candidate Tsetska Tsacheva.

Rumen Radev, the socialist-backed candidate, is on the lead in the first round of Bulgaria's presidential elections, exit poll data shows.

Gallup Internatioinal has projected 24.9% support for Radev, while the candidate of the main ruling GERB party, Tsetska Tsacheva, has ranked second, having mustered 22%.

Polling stations will be open till 8pm on Sunday in Bulgaria, where over 6,834,000 citizens are entitled to cast a ballot for a new President in an unexpectedly knife-edge race.

The candidates for President Veselin Mareshki and Plamen Oresharski have gained momentum and now rank immediately after the three favourites for president, showed a nationally representative survey of Gallup International Balkan for the period October 24-31.

The distance between the candidates for president of GERB and BSP is closing. 31.4 % of voters would vote for Tsetska Tsacheva, while 27% would vote for Rumen Radev, showed a nationally representative survey of Mediana agency.

Bulgarian main ruling party's candidate Tsetska Tsacheva is set to lose to any of the two predicted frontrunners, a new survey has suggested.

If, after the presidential elections on November 6, a run-off is reached between Tsetska Tsacheva and General Rumen Radev, BSP's candidate will win, showed a Gallup survey of electoral attitudes among 998 people in the period October 4-12.

A Varna-based delivered on Tuesday some 100 000 additional signatures in an effort to make his 5-point referendum compulsory.

Veselin Mareshki, who says he will be running for President in the autumn, tabled a proposal earlier this year to hold a second poll with five questions, following the one by TV show host Slavi Trifonov which Parliament had approved.

A bomb exploded near a pharmacy located in a block of flats in the Bulgarian city of Burgas overnight.

No people were injured, but the explosion caused material damages to the pharmacy and the flat above it.

The store is owned by businessman Veselin Mareshki, who runs a chain of pharmacies bearing his surname across the country.