Ivan Maksimov Peshev

Public record

Compiled from publications and official records as of 23.10.2026. Every statement links to its source; claims made by others are marked as such, with who makes them. Quotations in English are our translation.

Corruption and scandals

• Dismissed the Totalizator chief after a faulty draw. The Youth and Sports Minister dismissed Georgi Tarlekov as executive director and management board member of the state Bulgarian Sports Totalizator after the last number drawn in Sunday's "Second Lotto Chance - 5 out of 35" draw turned out to be 41, BTA reports. A week later in Troyan Peshev said: "For the last 3 years the commission for the totalizator has not been convened according to the rules and was scheduled by order of the previous executive director, who was dismissed" (our translation). He declined to say whether it was human error, a technical fault or sabotage until the checks are complete, Focus reports. — BTA, 24 Mar 2025, Focus News, 31 Mar 2025
• Defends a Totalizator concession through the budget. Svobodna Evropa writes that Peshev (BSP) defended at a briefing in parliament the proposal of GERB, BSP and DPS-New Beginning, filed between first and second reading of the 2026 budget, to give the Toto in concession for at least 15 years to an international company for a concession fee of over 240 million leva. "The whole concession fee will go into the budget of the Ministry of Youth and Sports" (our translation), he said. The opposition and experts object that the state monopoly on lotteries would pass into private hands, and non-governmental organisations call amending laws through the budget, bypassing public consultation, a flawed practice. — RFE/RL Bulgarian Service, 26 Nov 2025
• Dispute at the wrestling federation over the Diana-bad hall. According to 24 chasa, the new president of the wrestling federation, Stanka Zlateva, locked the hall at Dianabad, and the federation alleges that the former leadership under Hristo Marinov was draining the state: it took money from the ministry as rent for the hall, owned by National Sports Base, while CSKA as a club also received funds for it. Peshev stepped in, and after a meeting with Zlateva, the head of National Sports Base and the sports school's director it became clear that the pupils would keep training there. — 24 chasa, 7 May 2025