Vladislav Ivanov Goranov

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.

Corruption and scandals

• US Magnitsky sanctions, 2023. On 10.02.2023 the US Treasury imposed Magnitsky sanctions on Goranov and four other current or former Bulgarian officials for "extensive involvement in corruption" (our translation). According to Boulevard Bulgaria, the sanction was "for his involvement in a corruption scheme related to favourable legislation" on gambling while he was finance minister (our translation). — e-vestnik, 10.02.2023, Boulevard Bulgaria, 02.08.2026
• The Bozhkov case and the OFAC document, 2022–2026. On 17.03.2022 Goranov was detained together with Boyko Borisov and Sevdelina Arnaudova over Vassil Bozhkov's claims of extortion. The district court declared the detention unlawful: "It does not state what exactly Goranov did that would constitute a crime" (our translation). On 12.12.2023 the Sofia City Prosecutor's Office closed the case for lack of conclusive evidence of coercion. According to the prosecution's account, Bozhkov stated that he had "handed Goranov about 60,000,000 leva" in 2017–2019 (our translation). On 31.07.2026, in the case Vassil Bozhkov is pursuing in the US against the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the office filed a document published by the site BIRD: "OFAC established, and the plaintiff admitted, that he made payments to former prime minister Boyko Borissov and former finance minister Vladislav Goranov in return for their giving preferential treatment to his business interests" (our translation from the Bulgarian report). This is a procedural filing by a party to the case, not a court ruling. GERB-UDF replied that the document is a procedural filing, not a verdict, and that presenting individual sentences from it as definitive truth is political propaganda. — Mediapool, 05.2022, Sega, 12.12.2023, Boulevard Bulgaria (after BIRD), 02.08.2026, BTA, 04.08.2026
• Rent from a road-barrier firm, 2026. On 18.09.2026 Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev said that a firm which had carried out public contracts for road barriers had rented premises from Goranov, and presented this as a way around the sanctions. Goranov confirmed: "The consulting firm I own did indeed rent out premises" (our translation) – for 1,000 euro a month, under a commercial contract he had declared. As of 18.10.2026 we have not found any charge. — Sega, 18.09.2026

Other

• Career in the state administration. According to his official biography on the Ministry of Finance website, Goranov graduated from the Academy of Economics in Svishtov (1994–1999). From 1998 to 2001 he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Agrarian Reform, where he became director of the Financial Policy directorate, and from 2001 to 2009 he headed the Social Expenditure department at the Ministry of Finance. From August 2009 to April 2013 he was deputy minister of finance; after leaving the 42nd National Assembly in February 2014 he became executive director of Municipal Bank. He was minister of finance from 07.11.2014 to 26.01.2017 and from 04.05.2017 to 23.07.2020. — Ministry of Finance, biography
• The meeting with Delyan Peevski, May 2010. In May 2010 Goranov, then deputy minister of finance, was photographed meeting DPS MP Delyan Peevski in a café in central Sofia; the photo was published in the media. In November 2014, nominated for minister of finance, Goranov said: "I have no relations with Delyan Peevski" and "We happened to be in the same place in 2010" (our translation). Peevski replied: "I was there by chance" (our translation). — Mediapool, 07.11.2014
• The anonymous "report", 2013. On 14.10.2013 the website Afera published an anonymous "report" on Goranov, which the editors said was "evidently made by officers of the special services" (our translation). It claims that his career in the administration was helped by Emilia Maslarova and Kiril Ananiev, whom it calls "his relative" (our translation); that Borisov delegated him to defend his interests in arrangements with investors and companies; that he negotiated with Bogomil Manchev over the Belene nuclear plant; that he took part in meetings in Pravets with Valentin Zlatev before excise duties were raised; and that he sometimes attended the Friday meetings at the Tsarsko Selo complex with Georgi Parvanov, Boyko Borisov, Kiril Ananiev and Valentin Zlatev. The author of the report is unknown, and we have found neither confirmation nor denial of these claims. One thing is documented: Goranov's profile on the National Assembly website (52nd National Assembly) lists Kiril Milanov Ananiev as his assistant for finance – the full name of the former minister of finance and of health. Open questions: Are Goranov and Ananiev related? What was Goranov's part in the transfer of Health Insurance Fund money to the budget that the report describes? Did he negotiate with Bogomil Manchev over Belene? — Afera, 14.10.2013 (archived), National Assembly, profile (assistants), 18.10.2026, OpenSanctions: Kiril Milanov Ananiev