Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is the most mentioned figure in Bulgarian media in 2014, shows the joint media monitoring of the foundations Media Democracy and Konrad Adenauer, released on Tuesday.

Borisov was mentioned 3908 times in eight leading Bulgarian media (4 daily newspapers and 4 TV stations) in 2014.

The Prime Minister has 80 % lead over President Rosen Plevneliev, who ranks second, having been mentioned 2176 times.

Experts explain Borisov's domination with the restored media appetite towards him, which comes in spite his limited public presence.

The leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Sergei Stanishev comes third, followed by former Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski.

The monitoring registers the increasing positive attitude of media towards Borisov and Plevneliev, despite the prevalence of negative publications on both of them.

The Citizens for European Development of Bulgara (GERB) was the most mentioned party, followed by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), while the Patriotic Front (PF) was the least mentioned.

According to the analysis, the Reformist Bloc (RB) is the party that enjoys a favourable media attitude, which evolved from neutral to positive.

The past year saw lower degree of political activity, which was seen in the campaigns for both the European Parliament (EP) and the general elections.

The personal confrontation between Borisov and Stanishev, which was central to Bulgarian publicity and used to fuel media, also disappeared.

The experts conclude that the necessary changes in the media environment had not taken place in 2014.

Journalists remain highly dependent on external factors such as politics, business and the administration, while the self-regulation in the sector is at a low level.