Julian Georgiev Popov

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

• Argued against lustration in an op-ed, 11.08.2020. Yuliyan Popov argued against lustration in Dnevnik. He wrote that being forced to join the BKP, become a party secretary or work for State Security in order to advance at work was itself a form of lustration. This is his own position. The article does not say that he personally had any such link, and none of the sources checked contains a claim of a dossier or State Security link. — Dnevnik, 11.08.2020 (archived)

Corruption and scandals

• Allegation of using the government VIP terminal to travel to London. Yuliyan Popov, as a minister in the Denkov cabinet, „е ползвал редовно правителствения ВИП, за да пътува до дома си в Лондон“ (our translation: regularly used the government VIP terminal to travel to his home in London), Epicenter.bg claims. The outlet found no business-trip order and no ministry announcement of an official visit. It says the terminal may be used only on official duty and with the prime minister's written authorisation. The article was published while Popov was the PP-DB nominee for EU commissioner. The outlet's ownership and stake were not checked. The materials checked contain no response from Popov or the government, and no investigation was found. He was not appointed commissioner. — Epicenter.bg, 03.09.2024
• Zeleno Dvizhenie withdrew its confidence from Minister Popov, 12.12.2023. In its statement, the party, a supporter of the Denkov cabinet, claims that the minister is not ambitious enough in reforms and „не постига реални резултати“ (our translation: does not achieve real results). It also accuses the ministry of misleading information. It criticises the decisions of 01.12.2023 that allowed preliminary execution of an environmental impact assessment opinion approving the flood-risk management plans (ПУРН). The party is active in the same field, and its assessment is political, not a legal finding. Popov did not resign and remained minister until 09.04.2024. The statement was repeated by OFFNews and Boulevard Bulgaria, which add nothing independent. — Zeleno Dvizhenie, 12.12.2023
• Claim of a conflict of interest over dual citizenship. A piece on skandal.bg, signed by Emiliyan Kanchev, claims that Popov was appointed caretaker minister in 2013 because of his circle (Capital/Prokopiev, Open Society). The author writes: „Има и обосновано предположение, че подобно на Кирил Петков, когато е назначен за министър, Юлиан Попов е бил в конфликт на интереси.“ (our translation: There is also a well-founded assumption that, like Kiril Petkov, when appointed minister Yuliyan Popov was in a conflict of interest.) He links this to dual Bulgarian-British citizenship. The text is an opinion piece written after Popov's remark about the painter Vladimir Dimitrov-Maystora, and it cites no sources. According to 24 Chasa, Popov renounced his British citizenship on his appointment. No complaint, KPK/KONPI case or other follow-up was found. — skandal.bg, 07.02.2022

Other

• Relatives from before 1944; no link to State Security or the nomenklatura. Yuliyan Popov's family has an agricultural and priestly tradition, writes 24 Plovdiv / 24 Chasa. Per Wikipedia, his great-grandfathers were Nikola Gabrovski and Georgi Rafailovich, and his wife is a descendant of the 19th-century prime minister Todor Burmov. None of the sources checked links these relatives to State Security, the militia, the BKP apparatus or the communist nomenklatura. His parents and grandfathers are not named in any source found. — 24 Plovdiv, 31.08.2024