Who is Who: Candidates for Varna Mayor

Varna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, with a population of 334,870 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Commonly referred to as the marine (or summer) capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a major tourist destination, business and university centre and a seaport.

A total of thirty-seven parties, coalitions and initiative committees have registered to participate in the mayoral election in Varna. Being one of Bulgaria's richest and biggest municipalities, Varna resembled a battlefield during the stormy pre-election campaigns.

The top candidates for the mayoral post in the coastal city are:

Kiril Yordanov – incumbent mayor, seeking fourth term as Varna mayor. He has been endorsed by the country's ruling centrist-right GERB's runner in the local elections on October 23. Yordanov stepped into his first term as mayor of the biggest coastal town in Bulgaria in 1999. During the previous local elections in 2007, he won the race for mayor in the first round after garnering the support of 53.42% of the voters at a turnout of 45.02%.

Borislav Gutsanov - former chair of Varna municipal council and member of the Executive Board of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, who hit the headlines last year after his arrest in a high-profile police operation on embezzlement allegations. He has been nominated for mayor of the summer capital by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and will also top the party's list of municipal councilors.

Vesselin Mareshki – a controversial Bulgarian businessman, founder and owner of the eponymous large low-cost drug store chain. Mareshki was nominated by an initiative committee. His name was linked to allegations of vote buying during the local elections two years ago, when he also ran for mayor of Varna. Back then he handed out banknotes of BGN 100 to teachers who had walked off the job in protest against small wages. The businessman had promised them more money in case he become elected, which he failed to do. Police searched his offices.

Dimo Stoev - nominated by the conservative Order, Law and Justice (RZS)

Dobromir Dzhikov – nominated by "Bulgarian Party Liberals"

Kostadin Kostadinov – nominated by "Varna Tomorrow" coalition