Ivan Iskrov, Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) has submitted to Parliament a proposal for the appointment of Dimitar Kostov as head of the Bank Supervision unit of BNB.

The proposal was tabled at around 4 pm on Thursday, according to the press office of BNB, as cited by Darik radio.
Kostov is currently member of the Managing Board of BNB and heads its Banking unit.

On January 21 Bulgaria’s Parliament removed Tsvetan Gounev from the post of Deputy Governor of BNB and head of the BNB Banking Supervision unit.

Gounev faces charges of failure to fulfill his legal duty to implement supervisory measures against Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB, Corpbank) over irregularities and violations detected in its activities.

Gounev was charged with abuse of office on June 16, days before the crisis at Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB) began.

On November 25 he was also charged with breach of duty just a day after returning to office following a months-long leave. The prosecuting authority then demanded that he be dismissed.

Gounev’s dismissal from the post of Deputy Governor of BNB was ordered by the Sofia City Court on December 3, 2014 and upheld by the Sofia Appellate Court on December 11, 2014.

Kostov was Deputy Governor of BNB and head of the BNB Banking unit in the period June 11, 2005 – June 11, 2011.

He was backed by Parliament for a new 6-year term in office that started on June 12, 2011.

After Gunev went on leave in mid-June 2014, Kostov, parallel to working as a head of the BNB Banking unit, was placed in charge of the supervision, control, and coordination of the activities of the BNB Banking Supervision unit.