Ivan Kostov

Ivan Yordanov Kostov (born December 23, 1949 in Sofia) was Prime Minister of Bulgaria from May 1997 to June 2001 and leader of the Union of Democratic Forces between December 1994 and June 2001.

Kostov graduated in Economics from the University for National and World Economy in Sofia in 1974, and later earned a Ph.D. in Mathematical Modeling of Economic Processes from the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski". He worked as associated professor in the Sofia Technical University and only entered politics after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, becoming an economic experts for the Union of Democratic Forces in 1990. His political career began as Member of Parliament in the 7th Grand National Assembly in 1990 (he has been re-elected to Parliament ever since) and he went on to become Bulgaria's Finance Minister in the two consecutive governments of Dimitar Popov (December 1990 - October 1991) and Filip Dimitrov (November 1991-December 1992).

Kostov was elected chairman of the UDF in 1994 and after winning the May 1997 elections became Bulgaria's Prime Minsiter, his cabinet being the first Bulgarian post-communist government to serve it's full 4-year term, despite having to carry with painful economic reforms. He is widely credited with turning around his country's fortunes and establishing a path towards Bulgaria's complete integration with the West. Under his government, long-delayed economic reforms were carried out, privatization of state-owned enterprises was carried on a large scale and the country started long-sought accession talks with the European Union (set for membership as of January 1, 2007).

However, reformist policies led to increased unempolyment, which combined with allegations of corruption resulted in a June 2001 election loss to the National Movement for Simeon II. Kostov resigned as chair of the UDF and eventually left the party to estbalish his own political force.