Former Parliament Speaker Ognyan Gerdzhikov has been appointed by Bulgarian President Rumen Radev as Prime Minister ad interim, the President's press office says.

The name of Gerdzhikov has been widely mentioned in the media since the end of last year, but Gerdzhikov has only commented reluctantly.

Gerdzhikov has accepted the proposal to take the office, according to the news website Dnevnik.bg.

The information came as Radev, during his second workday in office, gathered people widely believed to be the next caretaker ministers of Bulgaria.

These include several former government officials and experts.

Radev is expected to unveil the cabinet lineup later this week, after having made clear the names of the first appointments to his own team of secretaries and advisors.

Gerdzhikov, a professor of civil and commercial law, served as Speaker of the National Assembly (the country's Parliament) between 2001 and 2005.

But lawmakers voted him out of office several months before his term expired, in February 2005, claiming he had abused his competence.

In the next legislature elected in 2005, he gained an MP seat.

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