Delyan Slavchev Peevski (, born 27 July 1980) is a Bulgarian politician and oligarch, who serves as the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS). He is sanctioned by both the United States and the United Kingdom for corruption, bribery and embezzlement. He is also a former media mogul and is a member of the National Assembly of Bulgaria since 2009. A member of DPS, which he leads since 2024, Peevski was elected as the director of the State Agency for National Security in 2013, which triggered the 2013–2014 Bulgarian protests against the Oresharski cabinet that led to the eventual resignation of Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski.
In June 2021, the United States Department of the Treasury designated Peevski, the public official Ilko Zhelyazkov, and the Bulgarian oligarch Vasil Bozhkov, along with 64 entities owned and controlled by Bozhkov and Peevski, for their roles in public corruption, pursuant to Executive Order 13818, which builds upon and implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Simultaneously, UK also sanctioned several high-profile Bulgarian figures, including Peevski, under the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations from 2021. According to Radio Free Europe, "Peevski is a notorious embodiment of the collusion between media, politicians, and oligarchs".
Early life, family and education He was born on 27 July 1980, in Sofia. Peevski graduated from 119 SOU in Sofia in 1998 and completed his legal studies at the South-West University in 2003. Since his graduation Peevski has donated large amounts of money and equipment to his alma mater and has spread his donations across several other universities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peevski is the son of the former chief of the Bulgarian sport totalizer, Irina Krasteva, who founded the New Bulgarian Media Holding Group in 2007. Limited information is publicly available about his father or other family members. Peevski is reported to have two children. His personal life remains largely private, although media outlets have linked him to Bulgarian pop-folk singer Tsvetelina Yaneva.
Political career
Early political career
In 2001, Peevski joined the National Movement Simeon II (NMSII), being one of the founders of the parties youth wing. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed as the parliamentary secretary to transport minister, Plamen Petrov, after the election of the Sakskoburggotski Government. Former Corporate Commercial Bank director, Tsvetan Vasilev alleges that he became acquainted with Peevski during this period of time. In this role, his name was further mentioned in relation to various privatisation schemes, specifically the privatisation of sport facilities in Sofia. Additionally, he was appointed as a member of the board of directors of "Varna Port", although he was removed from the board after parliamentary protests.
In 2004, Peevski temporarily left politics, working as a consultant for the private company, TV "Globus". In 2005, he was exceptionally appointed as an investigator by the Supreme Judicial Council, after a letter of recommendation by the Chief of the Investigative Service, Angel Aleksandrov. Half a year later, he was appointed as deputy minister for emergencies and disasters from the quota of DPS.
In 2007, he was fired as a deputy minister during the Socialist-led government in a corruption scandal, with the director of Bulgartabac accusing him of abuse of power. After being fired, Peevski attempted to return as an investigator, however his request was initially rejected by the Supreme Judicial Council, who found that he did not have the necessary "moral qualifications" for the role. He challenged the decision at the High Arbitration Court, who ruled in his favour and restored him to the position in June, 2007. Peevski briefly returned to the agency prior to the 2009 Bulgarian parliamentary election. While Peevski was investigated for corruption, the investigation was dropped in November 2007 and he was restored as deputy minister by Sergei Stanishev.
MP from DPS
In 2009, Peevski was elected as an MP from DPS. He served as a member of the Committees for Internal Security, and Justice. He was further nominated to serve on the Anti-Corruption Commission, however his candidacy was rejected by the parliament. In 2010, a photo was circulated by the newspaper Capital of Peevski allegedly meeting with then-deputy finance minister, Vladislav Goranov. He voted against a vote of no confidence in the Borisov I cabinet. After the dissolution of the 41st National Assembly, Peevski was restored to his position as an investigator by the Supreme Judicial Council; however, he left the position after two weeks due to being nominated as an MP-candidate from DPS. In the election campaign, he expressed severe criticisms of the preceding Borisov government.
Oresharski Government
Peevski was elected as an MP in the 42nd National Assembly. He was a vocal supporter and voted in favour of the Oresharski Government. During debates about the cabinet, former minister of the interior, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, claimed that Peevski had been present in meetings between the government and General Prosecutor, Sotir Tsatsarov, at the prosecutor's request. Tsatsarov denied the accusation. On 14 June 2013, Peevski was elected as head of the State Agency for National Security, with the votes of 116 MPs. Peevski accepted the position and promised to work in an unbiased manner in the interests of the country.
The election of Peevski was accompanied by severe criticism from opposition politicians and members of civil society. President Rosen Plevneliev called on the National Assembly to review its decision, and summoned a Consultative Council for National Security in order to understand the reasoning behind Peevski's appointment. A number of civil society organisations signed an open letter requesting the reversal of the decision. Ambassadors from Bulgaria's NATO allies, as well as members of the European Parliament, expressed scepticism about the choice, as well as the procedure behind the election.
The spread of the news lead thousands of Bulgarians opposed to the decision to gather in front of government headquarters in Sofia to protest against the surprising appointment, chanting "Mafia" and "resign". In a letter sent on 15 June, which was widely seen as in response to pressure from the protests, Peevski submitted his willingness to resign "in the interests of the country", while simultaneously criticizing his political opponents. Prime Minister Oresharski accepted his resignation and submitted it before the National Assembly, with the parliament unanimously approving it on 19 June.
Following his resignation as head of DANS, Peevski withdrew his resignation as an MP. After a couple of months of lack of clarity whether under these conditions Peevski was still considered an MP, in October 2013 the Constitutional Court decided that he still was an MP. Peevski accepted the ruling, stating that it was a victory for democracy. The ruling was confirmed by a secondary ruling in December, 2013, after the initial ruling was challenged by President Plevneliev. Peevski co-authored a law with DPS MP Yordan Tsonev on restricting the activities of off-shore companies in the Bulgarian economy, submitted to the National Assembly in October, 2013. The law was approved in December, 2013.
In early 2014, Peevski engaged in a conflict with GERB MP, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, accusing Tsvetanov of exercising undue influence within the judicial system and of allegedly requesting that media affiliated to Peevski "protect criminal leaders". In an open letter to the media, he confirmed that he had met with Tsvetanov "40 times" during his tenure as Minister of the Interior, although he refused to disclose the nature of the meetings. In a later statement he claimed that the meetings were at the initiative of Tsvetan Tsvetanov, including an alleged meeting during which Tsvetanov attempted to intimidate Peevski. DPS leader Lyutvi Mestan further claimed that Peevski had met with Boyko Borisov and urged him to reveal the nature of their discussion. Tsvetan Tsvetanov for his part accused Peevski of using the meetings to attempt to influence his activity, especially in the "mixed regions".
In February 2014, after a signal by the protest group, "Protestors Web", the general prosecutors office announced a "full investigation" into Delyan Peevski, banker Tsvetan Vasilev and journalist Nikolay Barekov. The group further asked for clarifications from security services about the access that Peevski received to classified information on 11 August. In January, 2015, the Sofia city prosecutors office announced that they wouldn't be opening a case against Peevski based on the report due to a lack of evidence.
In May 2014, Peevski was elected to the European Parliament as part of the DPS list, but immediately thereafter decided to give up his seat. He explained that his motivation to participate in the European elections, while not taking his seat, had been to restore his reputation. In mid-June 2014, three people were arrested due to their involvement in an alleged murder plot against Peevski, but they were released because of a lack of sufficient evidence. Peevski condemned the court's decision and claimed that chief of the Corporate Trade Bank, Tsvetan Vasilev, had ordered the assassination. In late June, the prosecutors office opened an investigation into potential death threats issued by Peevski against Vasilev in private communications. On 16 July, Peevski announced that the case against him had been dropped. After the resignation of the Oresharski government, Peevski was once again selected as a candidate from DPS for the 2014 Bulgarian parliamentary election.
Post-Oresharski activity
In 2016, Peevski, Yordan Tsonev and former minister of finance, Petar Chobanov, proposed a new law in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of the Corporate Trade Bank. The law proposed an urgent amendment to the Bank Insolvency Act in order to allow the publicizing of the report of AlixPartners Services UK LLP, which was contracted to trace and take action for the preservation and recovery of the assets of the failed Corporate Commercial Bank (KTB), Bulgarian News Agency reported. After the amendments were adopted, the report was translated in Bulgarian and published in May 2016. According to the document, the audit confirmed that the bank functioned as a financial pyramid and was siphoned off through large loans to companies related to the majority shareholder Tzvetan Vassilev. More than half of the loans at the value of 2,5 billion BGN were given to companies related to Vassilev. The report also shows that the majority shareholder also used the bank for "personal transactions".
In 2018, he once again proposed amendments to the Bank Insolvency Act together with two MPs from the parliamentary group of the DPS - Yordan Tsonev and Hamid Hamid. The amendments were adopted in February 2018. According to the movers' reasons, the idea of the amendments is to establish an effective mechanism for replenishing a bankrupt bank's bankruptcy estate and to suppress schemes for plundering assets purchased directly or indirectly on money originating from such a bank. The president of Bulgaria Rumen Radev vetoed the amendments. His veto was later overturned by the MPs and the amendments were conclusively adopted by the Parliament on 7 March 2018.