Economist Atanas Pekanov sworn in as interim Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria

Economist Atanas Pekanov was sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria on Aug. 2 to serve in a caretaker government ahead of the country’s October parliamentary elections.

He is a PhD candidate and lecturer at Vienna University of Economics and Business, and his area of expertise is monetary and fiscal policy within the Eurozone.

Pekanov is also a staff member at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research, and previously served as a member of the Strategic Council to the President of the Republic of Bulgaria. He has also worked for the European Central Bank.

During 2019 and 2020 he was a visiting PhD Fulbright Scholar within the Department of Economics at Harvard University.

A caretaker government in Bulgaria was sworn in on Aug. 2, following the collapse of Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s coalition government in late June. In October, Bulgaria will hold a parliamentary election following a vote of no-confidence in the liberal-socialist coalition government that held office until earlier this year. It will be the country’s fourth parliamentary election since April 2021.

It is the second time that Pekanov will serve as interim Deputy Prime Minister, after previously stepping into the role during the caretaker government of Prime Minister Stefan Yanev from May 2021 to December 2021.

Announcing his nomination to the post on Twitter, Pekanov said: “Dear friends, I am honoured to have been nominated again to serve as Deputy Prime Minister of Bulgaria in the upcoming caretaker government. We have a lot of work ahead of us as a country and we have to face it with the courage to act and with care for our citizens.”

He added: “I take this responsibility with a clear view of the challenges that lie ahead in the coming months for Bulgaria and Europe as a whole. Our country is going through politically turbulent times and new elections will take place in October.”