The government of President Rumen Radev has replaced the head of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency, with Agriculture and Food Minister Plamen Abrovski announcing the dismissal of BFSA director Angel Mavrovski during a briefing on Thursday. His position will now be taken over by Professor Svetla Yancheva, a lecturer at the Agricultural University in Plovdiv and former deputy agriculture minister in the caretaker cabinet of Ognyan Gerdzhikov.
The personnel change comes despite a series of high-profile inspections and investigations carried out by the agency under Mavrovski’s leadership in recent months. During that period, the BFSA uncovered violations in warehouses, slaughterhouses and food enterprises, while also taking part in joint operations with the Interior Ministry.
Abrovski nevertheless defended Mavrovski’s performance and insisted the replacement was part of the natural transition to a new governing team. “It is completely normal for a new team to be formed from new people,” the minister said, adding that “Dr. Mavrovski did a very good job, which I believe should be built on.”
Mavrovski had been appointed during the caretaker government led by Andrey Gyurov, when Ivan Hristanov served as agriculture minister. Together with the Interior Ministry, the BFSA launched the “Clean Food” operation, which resulted in a number of inspections and sanctions across the country.
