Bulgaria's Caretaker PM Heaps Praise on Macho Predecessor

Bulgaria's caretaker prime minister Marin Raykov has assessed highly the decision of his predecessor to return power to the people.

"I will take the liberty to make a personal assessment of your decision to return the power you gained in elections. This proved you believe in politics of men, not in politics of violence. This proved that the democratic principles are a style of behavior and attitude of the Bulgarian politicians and the Bulgarian political class."

Bulgaria's caretaker cabinet, which was announced by the president on Tuesday, following weeks without a government, officially came into office on Wednesday.

At an official ceremony caretaker prime minister Marin Raykov took over from former prime minister Boyko Borisov, who shockingly resigned in February.

Marin Raykov will head Bulgaria's caretaker government until the May 12 elections, the president officially announced on Tuesday. He will also serve as foreign minister.

Until the high-level and rather surprising appointment at the helm of Bulgaria's caretaker cabinet Raykov served as the country's Ambassador to France.

The caretaker government will include three deputy Prime Ministers: Regional Development Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, Labor Minister Deyana Kostadinova and EU Funds Minister Iliyana Tsanova.

Dragomir Yordanov will be Bulgaria's new Justice Minister.

Kalin Hristov, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, will take over the Finance Ministry.

Asen Vasilev will take over as Minister of Economy, Energy and Tourism. Vasilev is co-founder of Everbeard.

Petya Parvanova will be appointed Interior Minister. She is now head of the Interior Ministry's Directorate "EU and International Cooperation."

Prof. Ivan Stankov, President of the Thracian University in the city of Stara Zagora would be Agriculture Minister.

Star actor, Vladimir Penev, who has one of the leading roles as "the good cop" in the popular TV series "Undercover," is going to be Culture Minister.

Christian Krastev is becoming Minister of Transport. He is one of the last appointments (January 16, 2013) in the outgoing Cabinet as a Deputy Transport Minister replacing Kamen Kichev, whose post remained vacant for over one year.

Krastev is a former CEO of Wizz Air Bulgaria. His wife was Governor of the Yambol Region and is currently Bulgarian Ambassador to Croatia.

The Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, BAS, and its Scientific Secretary, Prof. Nikolay Miloshev, is the caretaker Education Minister.

Prof. Nikolay Petrov is the caretaker Health Minister.

Prominent marathon swimmer Petar Stoychev is the new Sports Minister.

Roman Vasilev will head the brand new Electronic Government Ministry.

Defense expert Todor Tagarev is the caretaker Defense Minister.

Yulian Popov has been named as the country's Environment Minister.

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