Vladimir Vladimirov, who had been board chairman of Bulgarian state railways company BDZ in 2009-2013, was elected executive director on Wednesday.

Velik Zanchev was elected BDZ board chairman, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.

Steering BDZ through negotiations with the company’s creditors and trade unions towards completion of reforms will be key tasks of the company’s new managers.

The changes at the top of the debt-ridden company come several days after Bulgaria’s new minority coalition government led by Boyko Borisov took office.

“Their expertise and the results they had achieved are the main motive for bringing them back into the BDZ’s management structure,” the statement read.  

Vladimirov was BDZ board chairman in 2009-2013 when Borisov’s previous government was in office. He was dismissed by the interim cabinet that took over after Borisov’s cabinet resigned in 2013. 

Zanchev was BDZ board chairman between April and August 2013 after serving as the company's executive director for about eight months until April 2013.

In their previous positions Vladimirov and Zanchev had been in charge of pushing through much-delayed reforms at the loss-making railways company, including slashing BGN 100M off BDZ’s debt.

Transport Minister Ivaylo Moskovski announced on Tuesday he would strive to negotiate a loan from the World Bank for the restructuring of BDZ.

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