Marian Stoyanov Bachev

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

• Teacher from his theatre workshop detained. The actor Rosen Belov, a teacher at the minister's theatre workshop, was detained on coercion charges in the affair of the former director of the National Patients' Organisation, Dr Stanimir Hasardzhiev; an inspection of the workshop then began at the request of Izgrev district mayor Delyan Georgiev. Bachev denied any involvement: "It is untrue that I am linked to a person facing court proceedings that have nothing to do with me" (our translation). — BNT, 29.10.2025
• Foundation's community-centre contract without a board decision. After an inspection by the district administration, Izgrev district mayor Delyan Georgiev said the theatre school Аркадия Фюжън Арт, owned by Bachev, had worked for nearly ten years in the Nikolay Haitov – 1936 community centre under a contract signed without a board decision or meeting minutes: "This makes the contract absolutely invalid, void, unlawful" (our translation). Belov had worked there on a civil contract. The minister had sent the mayor a notarised demand for a public apology; Georgiev refused. — BTA, 30.10.2025
• Filter: millions for a theatre headed by an associate. Filter alleges, citing three documents, that the minister channelled three public procurements to the Konstantin Velichkov theatre in Pazardzhik, headed by his close associate Dimitar Banenkin: one of BGN 1.184 million for ticket sales and two totalling BGN 1.190 million for roof repairs and replacement of the heating and ventilation systems. Lawyers quoted by the outlet consider that his involvement in the theatre workshop and the foundation of the same name puts him in an open conflict of interest. — Filter, 29.10.2025
• Filter: an inspector as his "personal club" against theatre directors. Filter writes that the minister obstructed a conflict-of-interest check on inspectorate official Zlatka Paraskova by dismissing two members of the checking commission and appointing her head of the Inspectorate, thus making her "his personal club" (our translation) against inconvenient theatre directors. According to the outlet she uses a departmental flat without being entitled to it. — Filter, 05.11.2025

Other

• Union of Artists: Toshko Yordanov actually runs the ministry. The Union of Artists in Bulgaria declared that it had long lost trust in the ministry and that the actions of ITN's parliamentary group leader, "who actually runs the Ministry of Culture" (our translation), were utterly unacceptable; bTV specifies that this is Toshko Yordanov. The Union said it would ask the prime minister for a check into abuse of power and his interference in the ministry's work. — bTV Novinite, 28.10.2025
• Director of the Bulgarian National Film Archive dismissed and reinstated. On 7 January the outgoing minister handed the director of the Bulgarian National Film Archive, Antonia Kovacheva, a dismissal order on the official ground that she had reached retirement age. After a petition by staff and cultural figures and letters from the Union of Artists and the Union of Bulgarian Film Makers, the ministry revoked the order about a day later, citing public sensitivity, the pending competition and institutional stability; Kovacheva was reinstated. — Intrigi.bg, 09.01.2026
• Head of cabinet – producer of Slavi Trifonov's show. Two weeks after her appointment the minister dismissed the head of his political cabinet, Valeria Kardashevska, and replaced her with Diana Mladenova, a producer of Slavi Trifonov's show and a shareholder in the TV channel Sedem-osmi. Bachev explained the change by Kardashevska's commitment to the theatre academy and said of Mladenova: "She is the person who knows every contract and every figure" (our translation). — Mediapool, 10.02.2025
• UNESCO: World Heritage Committee session held in Paris. The Ministry of Culture announced that Bulgaria was giving up hosting the 47th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Sofia; the session would be held in Paris, with Bulgaria remaining formal host and paying about BGN 2 million. Bachev blamed the delay on former caretaker minister Nayden Todorov, who replied that preparations had gone to plan. PP-DB MP Manol Peykov said "Bulgaria is embarrassing itself in the eyes of the world" (our translation), and Vazrazhdane called the decision a "diplomatic and cultural disgrace" (our translation); Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov and ITN's Toshko Yordanov defended it. — RFE/RL Bulgarian Service, 06.03.2025