Georgi Gervanov Ananiev (; 12 April 1950 – 26 January 2021) was a

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n politician who served as

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in the

Kostov government The eighty-seventh cabinet of Bulgaria (the Kostov Government) ruled from May 21, 1997 to July 24, 2001. The government was formed by the United Democratic Forces, an electoral alliance led by the Union of Democratic Forces, after they won a la ...

between 1997 and 1999.

Life

Born in the village of Kosacha, near Radomir, Ananiev studied in a technical school of

metallurgy Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the ...

and mechanotechnics in

Pernik Pernik ( ) is List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, a town in western Bulgaria (about south-west of Sofia) with a population of 70,285 . Pernik is the most populated town in western Bulgaria after Sofia. It is the main town of Pernik Province an ...

and graduated from the Mining and Geological Institute (Bulgarian: Минно-геоложки институт) in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

in 1974. He subsequently worked as an engineer for various companies. In the 1990s, he became a member of the UDF. In February 1997, Ananiev was appointed

in the

caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...

Stefan Sofiyanski Stefan Antonov Sofiyanski ( ; born 7 November 1951) is a Bulgarian politician who served as interim Prime Minister of Bulgaria in 1997 and was a three-term Mayor of Sofia. He was a leading member of the Union of Democratic Forces. Sofiyanski was ...

and retained his position following the formation of the Kostov cabinet. He is the first Bulgarian Minister of Defence to visit

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...

. In 1999, he was replaced by Boyko Noev as a government minister, but was appointed secretary of defense (an occupation in the presidency which had not existed before) of then

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Petar Stoyanov Petar Stefanov Stoyanov (, born 25 May 1952) is a Bulgarian statesman and politician who served as the 2nd President of Bulgaria from 1997 to 2002. A member of the Union of Democratic Forces, he won the second democratic election in modern B ...

. He died of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria The COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bulgaria when the country's first ...

References

1950 births 2021 deaths Bulgarian engineers Government ministers of Bulgaria Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria) politicians People from Pernik Province Defence ministers of Bulgaria Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Bulgaria {{Bulgaria-engineer-stub