Mladen Naydenov Marinov

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

• The militia. A profile in Trud writes that Marinov, born in Teteven in 1971, says that "as a schoolboy he was inspired by his maternal uncle, chief of the district police station in the town of Yablanitsa, to choose the militia uniform" (our translation), and enrolled in the sergeants' school in Pazardzhik as early as 7th grade. According to the profile, from November 1989 until the end of 1990 he and his classmates were brought from Pazardzhik to Sofia "to deal with the disorder" (our translation). — Trud, 13.09.2018

Corruption and scandals

• Toyota Tundra. RFE/RL (Svobodna Evropa) traces the history of one Toyota Tundra, which was first part of the dispute between Iliya Zlatanov and his son and then became the property of Mladen Marinov's daughter Silvia. "The day after the first episode of the 'Eight Dwarfs' investigation appeared, she sells it" (our translation). According to Iliya Zlatanov, who claims he lost assets through a scheme around the former investigator Petyo Petrov, the next owner is a close friend of Marinov. Marinov "has so far not commented on the matter" (our translation). — RFE/RL Bulgarian Service, 11.11.2021
• The recording. In November 2021, when Marinov was a GERB parliamentary candidate, the Interior Ministry showed at a briefing at the Chief Directorate National Police a declassified recording of a 2005 meeting in Sunny Beach which, according to Mediapool, shows Mladen Marinov meeting "persons with criminal records, close to Dimitar Zhelyazkov – Ochite and Nikolay and Krasimir Marinov, known as the Margini" (our translation), and the owners of the security firm Delta Security Guard. The recording is part of the ministry's check on how a car came to be owned by the daughter of a former interior minister. The article contains no comment from Marinov. — Mediapool, 12.11.2021
• Resignation. Mediapool writes that in 2020 Marinov left the post of interior minister together with the finance and economy ministers Vladislav Goranov and Emil Karanikolov, and "the explanation was to dispel doubts that they are directly dependent on DPS and Delyan Peevski" (our translation); the statement came from the government press service. The second reason given by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov was the police action during the protests at Rosenets. In March 2021 Marinov said the police had done their job perfectly at Rosenets. — Mediapool, 02.03.2021
• On bTV. In March 2021 Marinov told bTV, about the order for police jeeps being investigated by OLAF: "In itself the order is not flawed and has passed through the Commission for Protection of Competition and an administrative court" (our translation), adding that the technical specification was changed under the caretaker cabinet. In the same interview he said he had not been Peevski's minister but a minister in a Bulgarian government. The page does not report the outcome of the OLAF check. — News.bg, 02.03.2021
• The concession. BIRD claims that as a minister Marinov voted in 2019 for a change of concessionaire of the Nanovitsa and Yablanitsa limestone deposits, and that his wife Stanislava Marinova became a partner after the vote: in September 2020 she acquired one third of Biomineral OOD for BGN 3,350. According to BIRD, Marinov's asset declaration for 2022 lists a dividend of BGN 730,000 from limestone extraction, and in September 2024 the Glavchev caretaker cabinet extended the concession by 25 years. BIRD is an investigative media project; the article contains no reply from Marinov. — BIRD, 11.04.2025
• Bata. BIRD claims that in 2024 a company in which Marinov's son and wife hold shares transferred to MLD Battery Park a plot near Bata (Pomorie) for BGN 9,960, or EUR 1 per sq. m., while the expert valuation of neighbouring plots is EUR 206.78 per sq. m.; BIRD calls the deal "simulative". According to BIRD, after contributions of BGN 251,000 each, the two obtained assets worth over BGN 3 million. The article contains no reply from Marinov. — BIRD, 11.04.2025
• His brother. BIRD writes that Mladen Marinov's brother Mariyan "was personal driver of Lyubena Petrova and took part in loading the notorious gold in the special prosecutor's car park in the middle of the night" (our translation), and claims this is recorded in the pre-trial documents against Petyo Evroto. The article contains no reply from Marinov. — BIRD, 11.04.2025