EBU Member Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) has a new Director General. Last week (29 May), the Council for Electronic Media in Bulgaria elected Radoslav Yankulov out of a pool of 11 other candidates. Yankulov replaces Valery Todorov, who was head of the national radio broadcaster for two three-year consecutive terms.

A native of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Radoslav Yankulov became a popular sports journalist working for the news and current affairs channel Horizont of BNR from 1976 to the late 1980s.

He has been instrumental in the creation and development of several different radio stations. In the early 1990s, he became director of one of the first commercial radio stations in Bulgaria, Radio Express. He subsequently took on the directorship of commercial station Radio 99 and founded the radio station Sport.

In a brief interlude from broadcasting, Yankulov worked as a spokesman for the Bulgarian Football Union and between 2005 and 2009, was head of the public relations department of the State Agency for Youth and Sports.

Upon his return to BNR, Yankulov says he feels at home there since radio was where he started his career and where he continues to draw his strength from.

He also mentioned that he remains dedicated to the mission of strengthening the role of public radio as a neutral and independent media, and a promoter of democracy in Bulgaria.