Parliament approved Emil Dimitrov as the new environment minister

On the first working day on January 15 after the Christmas recess, MPs voted to approve Neno Dimov's resignation as the Minister of Environment and Water and elected Emil Dimitrov as his replacement. Neno Dimov submitted his resignation from the detention facility and was charged with deliberate mismanagement.

After an extremely tumultuous plenary session with many speeches, the MPs approved Emil Dimitrov's nomination for a new environment minister. 111 MPs from the ruling GERB and the Patriots supported his nomination, as well as several independent MPs. 96 of the opposition Bulgarian socialist Party (BSP) and from the MRF, and three independent MPs voted against the election of Emil Dimitrov.

There was a lot of criticism about his nomination and questions on why GERB and the United Patriots opted for it.

Dimitrov himself answered in detail all the questions in the plenary hall. He explained his expertise and what his professional backgound was and said that he himself did not want to leave Parliament, but he needed to.

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Bulgaria’s ruling coalition on January 14 nominated United Patriots MP Emil Dimitrov to succeed Neno Dimov as Minister of Environment and Water.

Dimov submitted resignation as it was announced he was facing charges of deliberate mismanagement in connection with the water shortages in the town of Pernik. The resignation was accepted by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Dimov was arrested on January 9, and on January 11 the Special Criminal Court remanded him in custody.

Dimitrov started work as an auditor at the Ministry of Finance in 1992. In 2001, at the time of the government of Simeon Saxe-Coburg, he became the Head of Customs. Emil Dimitrov became MP for the first time in 2014 as a United Patriots MP.

Because of his early career as an auditor, he has the nickname “Revizoro” (meaning, ‘Auditor’).

In 1997, he was named Auditor of the Year because he discovered that the State Reserve had been siphoned off during the grain crisis in Videnov's administration. A year later, he conducted an audit in the customs and found more than 150 major violations. In 2001, he headed customs and gained popularity for his operations there, resulting in massive dismissal of customs officers for corruption.

Emil Dimitrov became a Member of Parliament in 2014. He is also a Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliament’s Monitoring Committee on the Revenue Agencies and Combating the Parallel Economy and Smuggling.