Ivaylo Nikolaev Mirchev

Public record

Compiled from publications and official records as of 18.10.2026. Every statement links to its source; claims made by others are marked as such, with who makes them. Quotations in English are our translation.

Communist Party and State Security

• His father. In March 2021 Mirchev wrote in reply to the photographer Viktor Dimchev: "My father was an ordinary secretary in the municipal council of the BKP" (our translation). He objected only to the claim that his father was first secretary: "When you write that my father was first secretary, you are wrong." The municipality is Krushari, Dobrich region. — Dnes+, 13.03.2021
• His father and the "Revival Process". Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov (a political opponent) claims that before 1989 Mirchev's father "worked as nomenklatura in the BKP municipal council in Krushari, in charge of party propaganda in the municipality", that after 1989 he stayed in the party and was a BSP municipal councillor for years, and that during the forced renaming of Bulgarian Turks people like him "were given the most responsible work in carrying it out" (our translation). — Dnes.bg, 30.12.2025
• His father's party career (archive documents). The political scientist Anton Todorov, a former GERB MP, published documents from the Dobrich State Archive and the BSP archive in Dobrich on the father, Nikolay Minchev Mirchev. According to them, in the late 1970s he worked at the newspaper Septemvriysko Zname, organ of the BKP municipal committee in Krushari; he was admitted to the BKP by protocol No. 9 of 05.08.1983; from 19 March 1984 he was an instructor at the municipal party committee in Krushari; at the start of 1986 he was secretary of the BKP municipal committee in Krushari and a member of its bureau. The article was reprinted by Blitz. — Zonanews, 12.01.2026, Blitz, 12.01.2026, Wikipedia: Anton Todorov
• His father and the "Revival Process" (archive documents). In a second article Anton Todorov published documents from the Dobrich State Archive according to which, at the meeting of the bureau of the BKP municipal committee in Krushari on 3 March 1986, Nikolay Mirchev was promoted to secretary and was to deliver a report "on the further development of the revival process in the Krushari settlement system". According to the minutes of that meeting he said: "I agree that an unsatisfactory assessment should be given of the revival process in the settlement system. Work should be done with the families one by one, getting closer to them. Speaking Turkish and wearing shalvari [traditional trousers] are still widespread. Strict control must be exercised" (our translation). Todorov also published memos from 1986–1987 in which Mirchev proposed confirming expulsions from the BKP of people Todorov describes as renamed Turks; according to one of them, those expelled "committed anti-state acts after the restoration of the Bulgarian names" (our translation). The "Revival Process" was the 1984–1989 campaign of forced renaming of Bulgarian Turks. — Zonanews, 13.01.2026
• The DB lists. Tribune.bg wrote in 2021: "Mirchev's father was the BKP party secretary in Krushari municipality" (our translation). — Tribune.bg, 2021

Russia

• The ships. After the Consultative Council for National Security (KSNS) met on 7 October 2026, Mirchev, co-chair of "Yes, Bulgaria", told journalists that the meeting had made clear there are sufficient indications of Russian interference in the attack on the two merchant ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea: "I do not recall anyone at the table who had doubts that Russia is behind this attack" (our translation). — BTA, 07.10.2026
• Hybrid attacks. Mirchev told bTV: "Bulgaria is currently a country threatened by drone attacks and by every type of hybrid attack, usually carried out by Russia" (our translation), and that Ukraine is the country that can help Bulgaria deal with this. — News.bg, 11.10.2026

Corruption and scandals

• The attack. In May 2026 the Sofia police (SDVR) reported that Mirchev had been attacked by a driver after he remarked on improper parking in Lozenets; the driver was detained for 72 hours. The Sofia District Prosecutor's Office states that he was struck in the face by hand and charged the 34-year-old driver with hooliganism and light bodily harm. Mirchev says he was not hit, that the driver's hand "slid" across his cheek, and calls the prosecution's actions "excessive" (our translation). — Mediapool, 15.05.2026
• Organised-crime police. In August 2022 Mirchev, then a former "Democratic Bulgaria" MP, was questioned as a witness at the organised-crime police (GDBOP) over his statements that Bulgarian services are penetrated by Russia; the check was not against him personally but concerned his claims. According to Mediapool's information the police were acting on a file at the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office opened after a signal from the "Military Information" service. — Mediapool, 31.08.2022
• The Staliyski suit. In April 2026 businessman Aleksandar Staliyski lost at first instance a civil suit against Mirchev in which he claimed BGN 35,000 in compensation for a 2020 statement about the inspections of the "Hipoland" toy chain. The court held that the statement was an assessment and opinion on a public matter and "finds no unlawfulness in the conduct of the defendant Mirchev" (our translation). The decision is not final. — Mediapool, 15.04.2026
• Court of Audit. In September 2025 Goritsa Grancharova-Kozhareva, former acting head of the Court of Audit, announced she would sue Mirchev for defamation over a post in which he cited a Court of Audit audit stating that, as acting head, she had approved the purchase of 22 cars for nearly BGN 2 million through a public procurement rigged in favour of a certain trader. She rejects his accusations and the findings of the report; Mirchev replies that he made public data from the audit report, not a personal opinion. The article does not say whether the suit was filed. — Mediapool, 02.09.2025