On November 14 History Faculty dean professor Ivan Ilchev was elected new rector of Sofia University St Kliment Ohridski, mediapool.bg announced.

He was elected by the University's General Assembly after a run-off with Chemistry Faculty dean professor Ivan Petkov. 218 members of the General Assembly voted for Ilchev.

In the first round Ilchev won 178 votes and Petkov – 90. To be elected, the candidate would have to gather at least 187 votes – half plus one of those who attended the Assembly.

The third candidate – Faculty of Geology and Geography dean professor Petar Slaveikov won 74 votes.

The first words of the new rector were that he hoped that in 4 years time he would not have disappointed those who voted for him, mediapool.bg reported.

The elections for new rector and new Academic Council of Sofia University began with a rejection of the proposal to abolish the age limit for rector candidates. One of the requirements candidates had to meet was to not to reach the academic retirement age of 65 years before the end of their 4-year mandate.

The proposal was done by the Mathematics and Informatics Faculty, who wanted the abolition of this rule so they could nominate professor Borislav Boyanov for rector.

In an interview for bTV on November 15 professor Ilchev said he would not fall into the trap of announcing the percentage salary raise of Sofia University's lecturers, Focus News Agency reported. He said he would be glad if the former rector's Boyan Bioltchev expectations for a 65 per cent raise in 2008 became reality. However, it all depended on what was going to happen and on the University's efforts to cut down on unnecessary expenditures, Ilchev said.

Bulgarian National Radio BNR reported that Ilchev's aim was that Sofia University would become competitive with Europe's leading universities.

Meanwhile, on November 14 the University of National and World Economy (UNSS) re-elected its rector Borislav Borisov for a second mandate, mediapool.bg announced.

On November 13 the National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts (NATFIZ) re-elected its rector Stanislav Semerdjiev for a second mandate as well, mediapool.bg said.