Ivan Portnih

Иван Портних49th Mayor of VarnaIn office
15 July 2013 – 13 November 2023Preceded byKiril YordanovSucceeded byBlagomir KotsevMember of the Varna City CouncilAssumed office
13 November 2023In office
8 November 2011 – 15 July 2013 Personal detailsBorn (1976-11-18) 18 November 1976 (age 47)
Sofia, PR BulgariaCitizenshipPolitical partyGERBSpouseVelislava PortnihChildren2Alma materUniversity of National and World Economy (BA)
University of Nantes (MBA)
Cornell University (MBA)

Ivan Nikolaev Portnih (Bulgarian: Иван Николаев Портних), born Ivan Nikolaevich Portnih (Russian: Иван Николаевич Портных) is a Bulgarian businessman and politician who served as the 49th Mayor of Varna between 2013 and 2023.

Early life and education

Portnih was born on November 18, 1976, in Sofia, People’s Republic of Bulgaria. His father is Russian, while his mother is Bulgarian. He graduated from the French Language High School in Sofia. He obtained an International Economic Relations degree at the University of National and World Economy, and holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Nantes. He specialised in hotel management at the Cornell University in the USA. He speaks French, English and Russian.^[1]

Political career

In 2012 Portnih was appointed as regional coordinator of the GERB party structure in the Varna Province.^[2]

At the local elections in 2011 he was elected as a Member of the City Council in the Varna Municipality and headed the GERB group in the council until July 2013.^[3]

2013 - 2015

In the sanp mayoral election on 30 June 2013 in Varna he was a candidate for mayor from GERB, winning in the second round of the election on 7 July 2013.^[4]

2015 - 2019

At the 2015 Bulgarian local elections he was a candidate for Mayor of Varna and got elected in the first round with 76 258 votes (or 62.67%).^[5]

2019 - 2023

In the 2019 Bulgarian local elections he was once again a candidate for Mayor of Varna. In the first round he received 49 754 votes (or 49,29%) and took part in a run-off with the candidate of the Revival party Kostadin Kostadinov, who received 14 432 votes (or 14,30%).^[6] He was elected in the second round with 49 207 votes (or 60.79%).^[7]

2023 - present

In the 2023 Bulgarian local elections Portnih announced that he would once again seek re-election. He won the first round with 26,57% of the votes.^[8] However, in the run-off he lost to the PP-DB candidate Blagomir Kotsev, who received 53,06%.^[9] He announced that he would continue to be in public service by assuming office as a Member of the Varna City Council, for which his party GERB had won 8 out of the 51 seats.^[10]

References