Boyko Borisov, the popular incumbent mayor of the capital Sofia, will convincingly win his re-election in the first round of the vote in October, a survey shows.

Bulgaria's former anti-crime boss is expected to garner 27,99 % of the votes, leaving far behind Socialist nominee and former intelligence chief Brigo Asparuhov with 7 % of the cast ballots, Barometer Info polling agency forecasts.

Once a stronghold of rightist-leaning voters, Sofia city hall is very unlikely to see a right-winger back at its helm, the poll shows.

Martin Zaimov, the former head of Bulgaria's currency board who is now running on the ticket of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB), will get just 3,46% of the votes.

Konstantin "Titi" Papazov, the former coach of Bulgaria's men basketball team, who is also targeting the rightist supporters in the city, will be backed by just 0,49% of the voters.

Interestingly, 4% of the respondents in the survey said they will vote for the candidate of the nationalist Ataka party, even though their nominee is yet to be named. The party leader Volen Siderov said earlier in the week that Slavi Binev, a controversial nationalist MEP, restaurateur and an archon, is likely to make the next big step in his career by running for Sofia mayor.

Turnout will expectedly be low - 51% of the respondents in Sofia say they will not vote in the polls, whose first round is scheduled for October 28.

Six weeks earlier Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov has a new garbage crisis, road repairs, stray dogs and allegations of rampant corruption in the municipality on his hands.

Borissov became the first non-right-wing mayor to take the reins of Sofia since the collapse of the communist regime in November 2005.

Over the last several years the former top anti-crime boss fighter has built up the image of a man with don't-bother-me-cause-I'm-too-busy expression, lips tightly shut in a straight line. Borissov basked in the media spotlight and also became notorious for his direct expressions.

Despite persistently evading questions on plans to set up a new party, Boyko Borisov became this year the face of a new right-wing formation GERB. Lately however he has shied away from any identification with the right-wing spectrum, saying he will battle the "red-blue fog".

Borissov's supporters say they rely on his persistence, intolerance for political pressure and understanding of the people to tackle the numerous problems of the capital under his new tenure.

His opponents say he is a ready-made products, who lacks the expertise, subtlety and political will to lead Sofia to prosperity.

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