Krassen Kirilov Kralev (), born 2 January 1967 in

Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...

, is a Bulgarian businessman and politician, who was the Minister of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria as part of the

Second Borisov Government The ninety-fourth Cabinet of Bulgaria took office on November 7, 2014. It was a coalition government chaired by Boyko Borisov. The government was formed after Borisov's party, GERB, won the 2014 parliamentary election. As GERB won 84 out of th ...

and Third Borisov Government.

Biography

Born in

, Kralev earned a degree from the Medical University in the city, subsequently making specializations in global marketing in the Association of the National as well as management of political campaigns at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

(1990) and Association of the National Advertisers of USA (1997). He is an expert in the field of public communications. In his youth, he was a long-distance runner. In 1986, Kralev was the holder of the Bulgarian youth national record for 20 000 m. He participated in the 1986 and 1987 Balkaniads, earning third place as part of the national cross country team. Kralev founded MAG Communications and has served as the Chairman of the company's board of directors since 1992 until September 2014. He is co-founder of the Bulgarian Association for Free and Fair Elections (Bulgarian: Българско сдружение за честни избори) and was formerly a consultant at the National Democratic Institute of the United States. He has also been involved in various professional capacities with the Cherno More football club, serving as its chairman on two occasions (1998–2001, 2003–2007). Since 2010, Kralev has been the head of the indoor football commission of the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( BFS) is the governing body of association football in Bulgaria, and a member of UEFA since 1954. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and fields its Bulgaria national football team in UEFA and F ...

. Kralev is among the founding members of the "New Age" (Bulgarian: "Новото Време") political party and was its deputy leader until 2012. He participated in the

2009 Bulgarian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 5 July 2009. With 40% of the vote, the decisive winner of the elections was the established in 2006 personalistic party of Boyko Borisov, GERB. The Socialist Party, in power before the election ...

as part of a coalition with the Lider (Bulgarian: "Лидер") party. He owns the "Alternative Media Group" EOOD and "Web Media Group" AD Internet companies. On 7 November 2014, Kralev assumed his duties as Minister of Youth and Sports of Bulgaria, succeeding

Evgenia Radanova Evgenia Radanova (; born 4 November 1977) is a Bulgarian female short track speed skater and racing cyclist who has participated in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. She was the world record holder in the 500 m short track distance with 43.671 ...

. He retained his position when the Third Borisov Government was formed on 4 May 2017. In January 2017, Krassen Kralev presented his first solo painting exhibition. The profit has been donated to the "Bulgarian Sports" Foundation. In November 2017, Krassen Kralev was elected as a member of the Board of the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

(WADA), representing the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. On 23 August 2020, Kralev tested positive for

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 ...

. He recovered in September 2020 after spending time in the

intensive care Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...

unit of "St. Marina" hospital in

References

1967 births Living people Politicians from Varna, Bulgaria Bulgarian businesspeople Government ministers of Bulgaria GERB politicians Bulgarian sportsperson-politicians World Anti-Doping Agency members {{Bulgaria-bio-stub