In the 20th electoral district of Silistra, there were no surprises, except for the fact that this time PP-DB failed to secure any seats, while for the first time, a representative from “Vazrazhdane,” Margarita Gencheva, who has served as a deputy in two consecutive assemblies, enters the parliament. DPS secured two seats, with one being the co-chair of the movement, Jevdet Shakurov.
The surprise this time came from Milen Deliyski, the restaurant owner placed last on the GERB-SDS list, formally nominated from the party’s civic quota. It turned out that he collected the most preferences, totaling 2,018, thus surpassing the second on the list—GERB’s regional coordinator and his friend Todor Todorov. However, this was not enough to surpass the 7% threshold or to displace the list leader, Toma Bikov. Subsequently, Toma Bikov chose not to enter parliament with the Silistra list and preferred the Sofia district, where he was also a leader. This allowed Deliyski to become the new face of GERB in parliament.
Milen Deliyski has no real “party authority” in the Silistra region, nor any civic engagement, aside from a protest by local restaurateurs led by him.
He is mainly known as a restaurateur who, in recent years, provided catering for party events of Borisov’s party at the local “Versailles” hall. As such, he was consistently part of the staging for regional leader Todor Todorov—ensuring that everyone at the party was dressed in traditional folk costumes. Dressed in trousers and footwear, both he and Todorov appear in numerous photographs. The folkloric ensemble also includes the third member, Ivelin Tanev, who has served as a deputy three times before. This time, however, he did not gather enough preferences and was eliminated from parliament.
The other role that the local businessman was assigned was organizing charitable events, behind which stood his friend and donor, Todor Todorov. In 2021, Milen Deliyski organized a charitable distribution of free soup for the citizens of Silistra. However, according to Deliyski himself, the lunch was actually sponsored by Todor Todorov.
Deliyski also formally acted as a donor to the police, providing food and drinks for patrols during the COVID lockdown in 2020. Media publications, however, revealed that the real donor was once again Todor Todorov, the regional coordinator for GERB.
Following the charitable initiative with the free lunch in 2021, the restaurateur requested that the municipality acquire a large portion of the iconic building “Nova Banya” in Silistra, where he owns part of the premises used for his restaurant, located in the garden. After heated discussions, this request was approved by the then-majority in the municipal council.
In this case, Deliyski first donated 18 square meters of his premises to the municipality, allowing him to later acquire a total of 600 square meters for the price of 111,000 leva, about the price of an apartment. Ultimately, the deal for the “Nova Banya,” which was contested by the prosecution, was legalized by a decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, which ruled that the decision of the municipal council did not violate the law. Thus, the free lunch for the residents of Silistra did not turn out to be entirely free.
With most of his activities so far, Deliyski gives the impression that he is a proxy for the regional coordinator of GERB, Todor Todorov, and that he would not undertake anything without his approval. Therefore, while the victory with the preferences is impressive, there is little doubt that the restaurateur’s entrance into parliament is not coincidental.
