Former Bulgarian Deputy Economy Minister and businessman Alexander Manolev has been removed from a U.S. sanctions designation that had barred him and his family from entering the United States since 2021. The move was confirmed to The Pavlovic Today by a representative of the U.S. State Department.
Manolev was designated under Section 7031(c) of U.S. legislation during the administration of President Joe Biden. The measure targeted foreign officials accused of involvement in significant corruption and imposed travel restrictions on both the individuals concerned and their immediate family members.
According to the publication, the decision comes amid a broader review by President Donald Trump’s administration of sanctions and public designations introduced during the previous administration. Sources familiar with the process said U.S. authorities are examining whether some measures were based solely on anti-corruption and national security considerations or whether political and ideological factors may also have played a role. Manolev’s case is being viewed as one of the first public examples of that reassessment.
The former deputy minister first learned of the restrictions on June 2, 2021, when the State Department publicly identified him as being involved in “significant corruption” in Bulgaria. Although he was never included in sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control under the Global Magnitsky framework, his name was frequently associated with those measures in public discussions.
