Photo: DPS press center
The mayor of Venets, Nehriban Ahmedova, has the highest salary among her colleagues in the northern Shumen municipalities – Venets, Kaolinovo, and Nikola Kozlevo. The data is from the register of persons holding public office, published on the website of the Commission for Counteracting Corruption (ACPC).
Ahmedova has declared an annual salary (on a tax basis) for 2024 of BGN 86,507. Her remuneration is BGN 16,000 higher than that of the mayor of Kaolinovo, Nida Ahmedov, even though Ahmedova governs a smaller municipality – Venets has 6,261 inhabitants (according to NSI data at the end of 2024), while Kaolinovo has 10,786 registered inhabitants. However, mayors’ salaries do not depend on the size of the population, but are determined by a decision of the municipal councilors.
The three deputy mayors of Venets – Fatme Sali, Ilhan Sali, and Kadir Nasufov – have declared annual salaries of BGN 60,614, BGN 50,944, and BGN 38,927, respectively.
The difference in remuneration between Ahmedova and the mayor of the other northern municipality of Nikola Kozlevo, Ismail Ibryam, is much greater. The annual salary of the Kozlevo mayor is BGN 51,062, which is BGN 35,000 less than that of his colleague in Venets. In addition to his employment income, Ibryam has declared BGN 58,500 in savings from his salaries.
The deputy mayor of Nikola Kozlevo, Antoaneta Georgieva, has an annual salary of BGN 35,642, while the deputy mayor Sevgin Ahmed has a salary of only BGN 4,187 for 2024. The population of Nikola Kozlevo is 5,326.
The mayors of Venets and Kaolinovo are among the longest-serving leaders of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). Nida Ahmedov has governed Kaolinovo since 2003, and Nehriban Ahmedova has been mayor of Venets since 2007. After the party split in 2024, both abandoned honorary chairman Ahmed Dogan and joined the camp of Delian Peevski, a politician sanctioned for corruption under the Magnitsky Act. The mayor of Nikola Kozlevo, Ismail Ibryam, is also part of Peevski’s formation.
The highest-paid mayor in Shumen
The highest-paid mayor among the ten municipalities in the Shumen region is not the one in the regional capital, but the administrator of another small municipality – Hitrino, with a population of 6,152. The mayor of Hitrino, Nuridin Ismail, received an annual salary of BGN 103,045 (on a tax basis), the highest mayor’s salary in the region.
In addition to the highest salary, Ismail also has the most money in banks and in cash, according to his annual declaration. The mayor of Hitrino has declared BGN 70,000 in cash plus three bank accounts at D Bank with EUR 57,147 (BGN 111,770), BGN 85,349, and BGN 72,481, respectively, all saved from his salary.
Nuridin Ismail has been mayor of Hitrino since 2003 and for years was one of the leading figures in the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and regional chairman of Dogan’s party. In 2017, he was expelled from the MRF because of his close ties to Boyko Borisov and supported GERB in the following elections. He then lent his support to Democratic Bulgaria, and today he is a member of We Continue the Change. His daughter, Aylin Pehlivanova, is the only Shumen MP from PP-DB after the leader of the list, Acad. Nikolay Denkov, gave up his seat and entered parliament from Sofia.
The mayor of Shumen, Hristo Hristov, ranks second in terms of income among the 10 municipal mayors, even though he governs a municipality with a population of 77,390, which is 12 times larger than the municipality of Hitrino. Hristov has declared an annual salary of BGN 96,440. In addition, the mayor of Shumen has BGN 59,027 and EUR 15,020 in bank accounts, saved from his salary. In another account, Hristov has BGN 70,712. He also has investments in insurance companies worth BGN 30,129, also from salaries. The mayor of Shumen also has a mortgage loan of BGN 50,455.
With a minimal difference after the mayor of Shumen, in third place is Merdin Bayram, mayor of another small municipality – Varbitsa. Bayram, who governs an area with 7,689 inhabitants, received an annual salary of 95,098 levs. In addition, he has declared available funds of BGN 47,000 saved from his salary, as well as BGN 40,262 in a bank account, also from his salary. The mayor of Varbitsa also has a mortgage loan of BGN 188,039.
Bayram is also one of the long-standing mayors of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) who switched to Delian Peevski. In the last parliamentary elections, Peevski’s party received 84% of the votes in Vurbitsa. The “record” in the municipality was set by disabled people who voted in mobile polling stations – 97% of them cast their ballots for the DPS-New Start party.
The mayor of Smyadovo, Ivanka Petrova, has declared an annual salary of BGN 71,933 and bank accounts with BGN 24,000 and EUR 10,000.
The mayor of Novi Pazar, Georgi Georgiev, has an annual salary of BGN 65,667. He has also declared BGN 12,000 in rental income.
The mayor of Veliki Preslav, Yanko Yordanov, has an annual salary of BGN 57,842. He has also declared BGN 4,953 in income from other economic activities.
The mayor of Kaspichan, Zlatin Tsenkov, has an annual salary of BGN 52,800.
