Nikolay Georgiev Markov

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.

Communist Party and State Security

• Public dispute with the head of state in 2007. Marica recalls: "At the time Markov claimed that Parvanov had rehabilitated State Security cadres in the NSO and in intelligence" (our translation). — Marica, 10 June 2024

Russia

• Calls for Bulgaria to stop military aid to Ukraine. On BNT's programme Govori sega, speaking for Velichie, he described the conflict: "Our position is that these are two brotherly peoples fighting in a global war" (our translation). — BNT, 15 June 2024
• Complaint to DANS alleging spying for Russia, over a post of his. On Facebook on 16.06.2023 he wrote that every day he received, through intelligence channels, dozens of clips of arms exports to Ukraine: "I send them through a classified channel directly to Moscow, for information and instructions" (our translation). In September that year, Mediapool notes, he announced he had been invited for a talk at the agency. After his election as an MP, the association BOETS asked the service for an immediate check; he replied on social media with insults, calling its members informers. — Mediapool, 12 June 2024, Club Z, 12 June 2024

Corruption and scandals

• BNT fact-check: neither a major general nor a colonel. Asked on the programme Oshte ot denya on 10.06.2024 what rank he held when he left the National Protection Service, he replied: "Major general" (our translation). New Bulgarian University's website and sources in the service give lieutenant colonel, the Ministry of Defence confirms neither rank, and Velichie says 'the Colonel' is his nickname. The broadcaster adds: "Markov was dismissed from the NSO as a disciplinary penalty" (our translation). — BNT, 13 June 2024
• Charged by military prosecutors in 2007 with disobeying an order and insulting a superior. The Sofia Military District Prosecutor's Office proceeded against him "under two articles of the Criminal Code – 372(2) and 378(2)" (our translation) for refusing to do push-ups ordered by the NSO's deputy head, Stoyan Tomchev. According to e-vestnik.bg, he first received "1.5 years in prison, suspended, with a three-year probation period" (our translation), after a retrial three years to be served, and was finally declared innocent. Separately, by his own account, he was ordered to pay the general 10,000 leva in damages for insult. — News.bg, 13 July 2007, e-vestnik.bg, 24 Feb 2010
• Velichie disowns him as member and leader. After weeks of mutual accusations with Ivelin Mihaylov, the party's other main figure, its press office, quoted by BTA, said he had not signed a membership declaration or accepted the statute; according to its Central Council he proclaimed himself chairman during the campaign. The statement came on the day the parliamentary group he chaired broke up after six MPs left it. — Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 6 July 2024