The ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Bulgaria is the official representative of the president and the government of the Russian Federation to the president and the government of Bulgaria.
The ambassador and his staff work at large in the Embassy of Russia in Sofia. There are consulates general in Rousse and Varna. The post of Russian ambassador to Bulgaria is currently held by Eleonora Mitrofanova, incumbent since 15 January 2021.
History of diplomatic relations
Diplomatic relations between the Russian Empire and the Principality of Bulgaria were established on 7 July 1879, in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, which established a de facto independent Bulgarian state. State Counselor was appointed "diplomatic agent and consul general in Bulgaria" on , and presented his credentials to Alexander of Battenberg on . Bulgarian policy thereafter diverged from Russian interests, and after Bulgarian success in the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885, Russia compelled Alexander to abdicate the following year, and diplomatic relations were interrupted. They were restored in 1896.
Diplomatic relations were again suspended on 6 October 1915, after Bulgaria's entry into the First World War on the side of the Central Powers. After the withdrawal of Russia from the war and the signing of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on 3 March 1918, diplomatic relations were nominally restored between the Russian government, now under Bolshevik leadership, and the Central Powers. Stefan Chaproshikov was appointed to head the Bulgarian mission to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and was able to present his credentials to Yakov Sverdlov, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. With the defeat of the Central Powers in 1918, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was formally abrogated on 13 November 1918 by the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, and diplomatic relations were again suspended.
Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Bulgaria were established at the mission level in 1934, and continued during the Second World War, despite the fact the Bulgaria was nominally part of the Tripartite Pact alongside Germany, Italy and Japan. On 5 September 1944, with the Red Army advancing towards the Balkans, the Soviet Union declared war on Bulgaria. Bulgarian forces offered little resistance to the advancing Soviets, and the country was occupied. Relations between the Soviet Union and Bulgaria were restored in August 1945, and on 6 January 1946 an agreement was reached to upgrade the diplomatic missions into embassies. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Soviet ambassador continued as representative of the Russian Federation.
List of representatives (1878–present) Russian Empire to Bulgaria (1878–1915) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesDiplomatic agent and consul general18 August 187826 April 1880Alexey KumaniDiplomatic agent and consul general26 April 188029 March 1881Diplomatic agent and consul general29 March 18812 March 1883Special representative1 August 1883March 1884Diplomatic agent25 February 18843 June 1886Diplomatic agent2 February 18869 November 1886Diplomatic agent1 February 189618 February 1897Georgiy BakhmetevDiplomatic agent18 February 18971905Envoy19061907Envoy19071911Envoy19111913Envoy19131915
Soviet Union to Bulgaria (1934–1991) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesFyodor RaskolnikovPlenipotentiary31 August 19345 April 1938Anatoly LavrentievPlenipotentiary30 September 193914 June 1940Plenipotentiary (before 9 May 1940)Envoy (after 9 May 1940)22 June 19401944Diplomatic representative19445 September 1944Envoy (until 6 January 1948)Then Ambassador22 August 19456 August 1948Mikhail BodrovAmbassador6 August 194828 January 1954Ambassador28 January 195425 May 1960Ambassador25 May 196012 January 1963Nikolai OrganovAmbassador12 January 196312 April 1967Alexander PuzanovAmbassador12 April 19674 May 1972Ambassador4 May 19728 May 1979Ambassador8 May 197910 July 1983Ambassador10 July 198326 February 1988Ambassador26 February 198825 December 1991
Russian Federation to Bulgaria (1991–present) NameTitleAppointmentTerminationNotesAmbassador25 December 199122 April 1992Aleksandr AvdeyevAmbassador28 July 19922 November 1996Ambassador2 November 199631 December 1999Vladimir TitovAmbassador31 December 199925 May 2004Ambassador25 May 200414 July 2008Ambassador14 July 200817 August 2016Ambassador17 August 201615 January 2021Eleonora MitrofanovaAmbassador15 January 2021
References