Prime Minister Boiko Borissov’s Cabinet has completed the process of replacing all of the country’s 28 regional governors.
 
At a meeting on August 19 2009, 10 appointments were made, after 18 were made at a Cabinet meeting a week earlier.
 
Bulgarian media said that most the new governors had been members of municipal councils or had been on the list of Borissov’s candidates for Parliament but insufficiently high up to make it into the National Assembly.
 
Borissov’s party took the largest share of votes in Bulgaria’s July 5 2009 parliamentary elections and the new Prime Minister chose to form a Cabinet composed solely of members of his party. Since taking office, the new Government has been remaking the administration it inherited, with numerous replacements of office-bearers and in some cases, referalls to prosecutors.
 
After the first 18 replacements of regional governors – of Blagoevgrad, Bourgas, Dobrich, Gabrovo, Haskovo, Kurdjali, Montana, Pernik, Plovdiv, Rousse, Silistra, Smolyan, Sofia City, Sofia Region, Turgovishte, Varna, Veliko Turnovo and Vratsa – on August 13, Bulgarian media reports described the new governors as a mixture of former councillors, lawyers, business people and local leaders of Borissov’s party GERB.
 
On August 15, Borissov said that there would be an audit to check how much money municipalities had got from the state.
 
Quote by mass-circulation daily Trud, Borissov said: "I spoke to the mayor of Bourgas and the regional governor - they have not received anything from the state. Neither have Yambol, Sliven or Stara Zagora. As regards Sofia - we know the subsidy was five million leva while Kurdjali received 80 million leva. We shall level the accounts because it is not fair," Borissov said.