Stanislav Svetozarov Balabanov

Public record

Compiled from publications and official records as of 22.10.2026. 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

• Minister Hristanov announces defamation suits against Trifonov, Yordanov and Balabanov. Caretaker Minister of Agriculture and Food Ivan Hristanov, who is in political conflict with the ITN parliamentary group and whose resignation it has repeatedly demanded, wrote on Facebook that Slavi Trifonov, Toshko Yordanov and Stanislav Balabanov would be sued for defamation against him and his adviser. Briag News recalls that Balabanov stated from the parliamentary rostrum that the minister's media assistant Desislava Nikolova had been detained with amphetamines in November 2025. Hristanov showed a document stating that she has no pending proceedings from the prosecutor's office and has not been convicted. — News.bg, 13.03.2026, Briag News, 13.03.2026
• Defence of the Criminal Code amendments proposed by ITN. Balabanov recalled the amendments proposed by ITN, against which, in his words, "everyone jumped up saying that we were practically going to put journalists in prison" (our translation). He added that ITN had sought to guarantee prevention and accused the critics of the amendments of populism, bTV Novinite reports. In February 2026 ITN submitted a new draft with higher penalties for illegal filming for pornographic purposes. — bTV Novinite, 05.02.2026
• Legal Affairs Committee adopts up to 6 years' imprisonment for spreading personal information. Under the draft adopted by the Legal Affairs Committee on 7 October 2025, the penalty is imprisonment of 1 to 6 years and a fine of 2,000 to 5,000 BGN, and in particularly serious cases 2 to 6 years of imprisonment, Paragraf.bg writes. After the public outcry over the threat to investigative journalism, GERB leader Boyko Borisov announced that he would not support it in the plenary hall, and Slavi Trifonov announced that the bill was being withdrawn. — Paragraf.bg, 09.10.2025
• Trifonov pulls ITN out of bTV's morning show after an interview with Balabanov. Club Z writes that Slavi Trifonov demonstratively withdrew his people from bTV's morning show because he was dissatisfied that host Maria Tsantsarova had asked his fellow party member uncomfortable questions. According to Boulevard Bulgaria, Trifonov was provoked by the tension during Balabanov's interview in the Tazi Sutrin studio, when personal attacks were exchanged with the host. The ITN boycott was announced at the end of the election campaign in October 2024 and drew reactions from journalists' organisations against political pressure on the media. — Club Z, 22.10.2024, Boulevard Bulgaria, 21.10.2024
• Trifonov's letter to Nova TV after a quarrel in an election studio. Boulevard Bulgaria writes that in 2023 Balabanov quarrelled with Viktor Nikolaev over his questions, and the host asked him not to address him as a "fellow journalist" (our translation) while taking part in an election studio. Slavi Trifonov then sent an open letter criticising Nikolaev and the channel's management. — Boulevard Bulgaria, 21.10.2024
• Blocked rostrum at the final sitting of the 50th National Assembly. Boulevard Bulgaria writes that ITN, Vazrazhdane and BSP blocked the work of parliament by occupying the rostrum and then tearing cables from the loudspeakers in the plenary hall. The outlet itself calls the end of the sitting disgraceful. The extraordinary sitting on the update of the Recovery and Resilience Plan for the coal power plants failed, and the 50th National Assembly finished its work before the snap elections. — Boulevard Bulgaria, 27.09.2024
• Live broadcast with a 7/8 TV microphone during the blocked sitting. Haskovo.Net reports that Balabanov was doing a live broadcast holding a microphone of Slavi Trifonov's television channel 7/8. The sitting was closed by presiding MP Rositsa Kirova because of a lack of quorum and the blockade of the rostrum. — Haskovo.Net, 27.09.2024
• Dispute with PP-DB over the Counter-Corruption Commission. Balabanov accused We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria of having turned the commission into an instrument of political pressure, News.bg reports. In the corridors of parliament he said that the accusations that it is a "cudgel" ("бухалка", our translation) come from those who themselves gave it such powers. The statement is part of a political dispute between the ruling majority, including ITN, and the opposition in the 51st National Assembly. — News.bg, 18.07.2025

Other

• His father Svetlozar Balabanov – in charge of security for an owner of Agrobusinessbank. 24 Chasa Plovdiv writes that he looked after the security of Hristo Aleksandrov, one of the owners of the bankrupt bank. After its collapse he went into private business, a small eatery at the Yug bus station in Plovdiv, where his wife and son helped. 5GMedia adds that he is a former footballer. — 24 Chasa Plovdiv, 11.04.2021, 5GMedia, 18.04.2021
• Reaction to polls placing ITN below the electoral threshold. Nova.bg reports that Balabanov commented on polls giving ITN a result below the 4-percent threshold for entering parliament. He said that as the party continues to be part of political life, it would work to change the law on sociological agencies, and called on citizens to vote. In the elections on 19 April 2026 ITN did not clear it. — Nova.bg, 19.04.2026