. Prof. Dr. Milen Baltov has been re-elected as Rector of Burgas Free University.

At its meeting on 12 March 2026, the Board of Trustees of Burgas Free University unanimously elected Prof. Dr. Milen Baltov as Rector.

Prof. Dr. Milen Baltov has been working at BFU since 2005, and he has just completed a successful term as Rector, preceded by terms as Vice-Rector for Research and International Cooperation and as Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs. Prof. Baltov is an example of a transition from the business sector to the academic world. For many years, he has been a key expert and coordinator of projects related to innovation development, industrial zones, and the establishment of intermediary project structures in Bulgaria, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Kazakhstan. He is currently a principal lecturer in business disciplines, head of the doctoral program “Economics and Management in Industry,” and supervisor of PhD candidates from Bulgaria, India, Germany, Nepal, and Pakistan.

Prof. Dr. Milen Baltov is Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Council of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria, a member of the Board of Rectors of the European University of Islands, Ports and Coastal Territories, and Bulgaria’s representative in the High-Level Group of Stakeholders for the “Black Sea Research and Innovation Strategy” at the European Commission. He is a delegate to the Programme Committee for the “European Innovation Council” under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme and a key panelist in the consultation process for the future European Strategy for Research and Innovation in Oceans and Seas.

The Board of Trustees of BFU highly appreciated the work of Prof. Baltov and his team for the increase in the number of students and doctoral candidates, especially international ones, and emphasized the significant role of the university at the international level as well as its importance for the development of Burgas and for strategic documents at the European Union level.

According to the Rules of Procedure of BFU, the first meeting of the newly elected Academic Council will include elections for Vice-Rectors and Deans.