Rumen Iordanov Petkov

Public record

Compiled from publications and official records as of 01.11.2026. Every statement links to its source; claims made by others are marked as such, with who makes them. Quotations in English are our translation.

Russia

• A Moscow visit and concern over Lukoil. As chairman of the party ABV, Petkov said on Radio Focus that he visited Moscow with MP Galin Durev and the expert Iliyan Sarandaliev and that they were received at the highest level. They spoke with Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky, with Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee, with Nikolai Shulginov, chairman of the Energy Committee, and with the Historical Society of the Russian Federation. According to him, a hint was heard in the talks that Russia might appoint special managers to Bulgarian companies in Russia. He also said that if Lukoil had not received a derogation, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary would have been ruined, and that "we have lost cheap and guaranteed Russian gas". — Fakti.bg, 18.11.2025

Corruption and scandals

• Leaves the Interior Ministry amid corruption charges against staff. Al Jazeera writes that Rumen Petkov stepped down amid corruption charges against ministry staff, after an escalation in the country's struggle against crime that could threaten the cabinet's long-term survival and cost it millions in aid. Prime Minister Stanishev called the decision "normal, logical and dignified". He told reporters he was resigning "to allow for a better state". — Al Jazeera, 13.04.2008
• The United States denies him an entry visa. EUobserver writes that the United States denied the former interior minister an entry visa after government officials said he had been involved with suspected drug lords during his time in office. Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov and customs chief Vanyo Tanov had publicly alleged that he was related to two controversial businessmen believed to be major players in the illegal drug market. He gave up his immunity, asked to be investigated and threatened to sue both for defamation. Ambassador James Warlick said the decision was based on "a criminal investigation" but gave no details, while he said he was not the subject of any investigation and that documents proving it had been sent to the ambassador. Tsvetanov later said he had not discussed his situation with the ambassador. According to the outlet, he left the ministry in 2008 after wire-tap leaks revealed a 2006 meeting with Plamen Galev and Angel Hristov, former elite policemen turned businessmen suspected at the time of controlling the synthetic drug market; a court in western Bulgaria had recently acquitted them of extortion charges. — EUobserver, 02.12.2010
• Loses a libel claim against the German journalist Jurgen Roth. Novinite reports that a second-instance court rejected Rumen Petkov's claim for BGN 10,000 in damages against the German publicist Jurgen Roth over his book The New Demons, upholding the Sofia City Court verdict delivered a year earlier. The trial was held behind closed doors because of the high-profile witnesses, among them the former head of the organised crime unit GDBOP Vanyo Tanov and the former Interior Ministry chief secretary Valentin Petrov. In the book Roth cites sources saying the former minister has relations to organised criminal networks and is involved in the production of synthetic drugs. According to unnamed Interior Ministry officials quoted by the publicist, he personally controlled the trafficking of amphetamines from Bulgaria to Turkey and the Middle East. Roth says he stands behind every word, while the claimant continues to call him a "liar" and "mudslinger". — Novinite, 06.10.2011