The Council of Ministers proposed Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov for the Order of St. Cyril and Methodius, first degree

The Council of Ministers proposes that Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov be awarded by President Iliana Yotova with the Order of St. Cyril and Methodius, first degree, for significant contribution to the field of higher education in our country and in connection with its 70th anniversary. The decision was made at a government meeting on July 9, 2026.

Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov is one of the founders of the Burgas Free University, which is among the first non-state universities in the country, established by an act of the Grand National Assembly in 1991. He has made a remarkable contribution to the creation and development of a sustainable, successful and competitive system of higher education management in non-state higher education institutions in our country.

Burgas Free University is one of the largest private universities in the country with a 35-year history and over 36 thousand graduates. Its administrative structure, the organization of the educational process, the management of the quality of education, the economic and financial policy are fully established and function successfully under the leadership of Prof. Petko Chobanov.

The significant contribution of Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov to the development of higher education in Bulgaria is the successful management model of a non-state higher education institution created by him, following European practices, satisfying the educational needs of society, ensuring high quality education with zero expenditure of public funds.

Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov is an academic lecturer in the field of macroeconomics with significant research and achievements in analyzing the processes of social production and the functioning of the national economy. In 1991, he laid the foundations of one of the first and largest faculties of the Burgas Free University - the Faculty of Business. Together with his team of like-minded people, he created contemporary and modern curricula and programs in economics and finance, consistent with European practices, built the educational structure and management system of the faculty and successfully led it as dean until 1995.

Since 1996, Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov has been at the head of the Burgas Free University as rector, and since 2010 as president. During this time, the university has established itself on the national and international educational and scientific market with a modern educational system, with flexible curricula, with new information technologies and systems introduced in education. Under the direct leadership of Prof. Chobanov, the European Credit Transfer System, based on the Boulogne Process, was successfully introduced at BFU. All accreditation procedures for institutional and program accreditation of the scientific fields at the university, conducted by the NEAA, have been successfully completed with high marks. This is the most accurate criterion for the success of the working system of higher education management at the university built by Prof. Chobanov, including all the main activities: educational process, scientific research, international cooperation, quality management, student realization and competitiveness.

As a university with modern international management, Burgas Free University is a desired partner for foreign academic institutions and organizations. Prof. Petko Chobanov is the initiator and creator of the UNESCO Chair in Human Rights and Culture of Peace at the university, which operates as a UNESCO partner under the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs program. Together with 12 other universities in Europe, BFU is a member of the European University of Island, Port and Coastal Territories, which unites a total of over 100,000 students. The university works under 65 agreements for cooperation and exchange of students and teachers with universities from Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

From 2006 to 2010, Prof. Petko Chobanov was a member of the Board of the Council of Rectors, and from 2013-2018 he was the Chairman of the Association of Private Higher Education Schools in Bulgaria. He actively works for the unification and inclusion of private higher education schools in the European educational space and participates in the processes of modernization and reform of the education system in our country. Modern state policy and the imposition of new standards in the field of higher education in non-state universities is a defining line in his long-standing management activity. He is the author of a number of legislative and regulatory initiatives to strengthen the role of the state in financing higher education on the principle of equality between state and private higher education schools, as well as for equal access to education, social services and social assistance.

Prof. Petko Chobanov possesses undeniable managerial qualities and an entrepreneurial spirit. Under his leadership, the university realized its most significant investment – ​​the construction of a new and modern building, entirely with its own funds, without assistance from the state and other companies and organizations, in the record short period of one year and five months. The building was opened in 2004 by the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov (2002 - 2012) and by the Minister of Education and Science Assoc. Prof. Igor Damyanov. This is the first and so far the only building of a higher education institution built in the last 50 years in Bulgaria, awarded a special award at the National Competition "Building of the Year 2004". Even more significant is the fact that the Burgas Free University occupies a worthy place among the higher education institutions in Bulgaria and Prof. Chobanov has played a great role in this.

Prof. Chobanov's overall contribution in upholding and defending the cause of BFU to have its own building, his leadership skills and broad social commitment were highly appreciated by the public of Burgas. With its contemporary and modern architectural appearance, the university has become an academic and cultural center, a center of public and social life of the city and the municipalities in the region.

Prof. Chobanov has made a significant contribution to the development and establishment of Burgas as a university center. In 2004, by a decision of the Burgas Municipal Council, Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov was awarded the title of Honorary Citizen of the City of Burgas, and in 2012 he became Honorary Citizen of the City of Sredets.

The decision of the government meeting is in connection with the decision of the Board of Trustees of the Burgas Free University, taken on March 12, 2026, in which it is proposed to the Council of Ministers that Prof. Dr. Petko Chobanov be awarded by President Iliana Yotova with the Order of "St. St. Cyril and Methodius" first degree for significant contribution to the field of higher education in our country and in connection with its 70th anniversary.