Rosen Zhelyazkov facts for kids

In this article, the family name is Dimitrov.

Quick facts for kids Rosen Zhelyazkov
Росен Желязков
Zhelyazkov in 2025

62nd Prime Minister of Bulgaria
Caretaker
Assumed office 16 January 2025
President	Rumen Radev
Deputy	Tomislav Donchev Atanas Zafirov Grozdan Karadzhov
Preceded by	Dimitar Glavchev
Speaker of the National Assembly
In office 19 April 2023 – 25 April 2024
Preceded by	Vezhdi Rashidov
Succeeded by	Raya Nazaryan
Member of the National Assembly
In office 21 July 2021 – 16 January 2025
Constituency	1st — Blagoevgrad
Minister of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications
In office 20 September 2018 – 12 May 2021
Prime Minister	Boyko Borisov
Preceded by	Ivaylo Moskovski
Succeeded by	Georgi Todorov

Personal details
Born	Rosen Dimitrov Zhelyazkov (1968-04-05) 5 April 1968 (age 57) Sofia, PR Bulgaria
Political party	GERB
Children	2
Alma mater	Sofia University
Occupation	Politician Lawyer

Rosen Dimitrov Zhelyazkov (Bulgarian: Росен Димитров Желязков) is a Bulgarian politician. He was born on April 5, 1968. He served as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria from January to December 2025.

Mr. Zhelyazkov resigned from his role on December 11, 2025, after many public protests. He is a member of the GERB political party. Before becoming Prime Minister, he held several important positions. These included Minister of Transport from 2018 to 2021. He was also a member of the National Assembly from 2021 to 2025. From 2023 to 2024, he served as the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Who is Rosen Zhelyazkov?
- Early Life and Education
- Starting a Career in Law
His Journey in Politics
See also

Who is Rosen Zhelyazkov?

Early Life and Education

Rosen Zhelyazkov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, on April 5, 1968. He studied hard and earned a master's degree in Law from Sofia University. This education helped him prepare for his future career.

Starting a Career in Law

In 1994, Mr. Zhelyazkov began his professional life. He worked as a legal advisor for the Sredets district in Sofia. There, he took on important legal and administrative roles.

A year later, in 1995, he became a lawyer in the Sofia Lawyers Association. He focused on laws related to people and businesses.

His Journey in Politics

Working for the City

Mr. Zhelyazkov's first political job was from 1998 to 1999. He served as the Deputy Mayor for the Lozenets district in Sofia. In this role, he helped manage local laws and controls.

In 2003, he became the Secretary of Sofia Municipality. This was a key administrative position for the city. He continued in this role after Boyko Borisov became mayor in 2005.

When Boyko Borisov became Prime Minister in 2009, Mr. Zhelyazkov moved to a national role. He became the Secretary to the Ministerial Council. This job involved managing the daily administrative tasks of the government.

Roles in National Government

Mr. Zhelyazkov continued as Secretary to the Ministerial Cabinet until 2013. He worked under Prime Minister Borisov and also under temporary Prime Minister Marin Raykov. During this time, he also led the Institute for Public Administration. He represented Bulgaria at the European Institute for Public Administration.

During the 2013 parliamentary election, there were questions about how election ballots were handled. Mr. Zhelyazkov was part of an investigation into these matters. However, a court later found that he had done nothing wrong.

From 2016 to 2017, he advised Prime Minister Borisov on public administration. He helped create laws to bring more digital government services to Bulgaria. He also represented Bulgaria at international meetings about open government.

In 2016, he was considered for a role leading a commission that protects fair competition. However, he later decided not to pursue this position.

Later in 2016, he was appointed Chairman of the new State e-Government Agency. His job was to make government services digital and available online. In 2017, he became the head of the Commission for the Regulation of Messages. This commission oversees postal, radio, and digital signature services.

Leading the Transport Ministry

On September 20, 2018, Mr. Zhelyazkov was elected as the Minister of Transport, Information Technology, and Communications. He took on this important job after the previous minister left the position.

As Minister, he promised to work closely with the Parliament. He also aimed to continue important projects already underway. One of his first actions was to end a contract for Plovdiv Airport. He also extended the deadline for a similar contract for Sofia Airport. These contracts allow private companies to manage public facilities.

In November 2018, he made changes to the leadership of the Bulgarian State Railways. This was due to concerns about how the organization was being run.

He also worked to protect the rights of Bulgarian lorry drivers. He opposed some new European Union rules that he felt would weaken workers' rights. Bulgaria managed to get some changes to these rules after negotiations.

There were some questions about the fairness of the contract to allow a private company to manage Sofia Airport. Mr. Zhelyazkov defended the decision. The contract was eventually signed in July 2020.

In February 2019, he addressed concerns from bus drivers. They were worried about how state funds were given out. Measures were announced to improve their working conditions.

Mr. Zhelyazkov also recognized problems with fairness and efficiency in the department that handles car registrations. He suggested a new law to make vehicle inspections easier for car owners. Some people worried this new law might lead to other issues.

He also oversaw the building of the 5G internet network in Bulgaria. In 2020, his ministry decided to restart the process for a 35-year contract for Plovdiv Airport.

He worked with the Ministry of Education to change how driving licenses are obtained. He wanted to make the tests more practical and use more digital tools. He believed this would make the process fairer. However, these planned changes were not put into action.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he helped implement a special wage scheme. This scheme supported workers in the transport sector. His time as Minister of Transport ended in May 2021.

In Parliament and as Speaker

Mr. Zhelyazkov became a Member of Parliament for the GERB-UDF party. He served in several National Assemblies. He was often the main candidate for his party in the Blagoevgrad region.

On April 19, 2023, he was elected Speaker of the Bulgarian Parliament. This meant he was in charge of leading the meetings of Parliament. He was elected with 136 votes.

However, on April 25, 2024, Mr. Zhelyazkov was removed from his role as Speaker. This happened just before the Parliament was dissolved for new elections.

He was also a main candidate for the 2024 European Parliament election. However, he did not take a seat in the European Parliament.

After the June 2024 parliamentary elections, he was nominated to be the Prime Minister. On July 1, 2024, he was asked by President Rumen Radev to try and form a new government. He presented his proposed government, but Parliament voted to reject it on July 3.

Becoming Prime Minister

After the October 2024 parliamentary election, Mr. Zhelyazkov was part of a team negotiating to form a new government. In January 2025, he was nominated as the Prime Minister candidate for GERB-SDS.

On January 15, he officially presented his proposed government to President Radev. He stated that his government's goal was to bring stability to Bulgaria after a period of many elections. He also said the government was based on agreements between different parties. The next day, January 16, 2025, the National Assembly voted to approve his government. Rosen Zhelyazkov officially became Prime Minister with 125 votes.

Rosen Zhelyazkov at the 2025 The Hague NATO summit in June 2025.

After becoming Prime Minister, he met with the previous temporary Prime Minister, Dimitar Glavchev. This was a traditional ceremony for the transfer of power. Mr. Zhelyazkov promised to share his government's plans within a month. He also hoped for good discussions with other political parties.

From January 21 to 22, he made his first foreign trip as Prime Minister to Strasbourg. There, he met with important leaders from the European Union.

On January 23, his cabinet held its first meeting. They decided to change the budget plan for 2025 that the previous government had prepared.

Why He Resigned

In November 2025, many protests took place across Bulgaria. People were unhappy with his government's budget plans, which included tax increases. There were also concerns about rising prices and fairness in government. These issues made the Prime Minister less popular.

Mr. Zhelyazkov resigned as Prime Minister on December 11, 2025. This decision came after weeks of country-wide protests against his government.