Vladislav Goranov

Vladislav Ivanov Goranov (born 30 April 1977) is a Bulgarian economist and politician, who served as Minister of Finance of the Republic of Bulgaria until late July 2020. In February 2023 Goranov was sanctioned by the US government for his extensive involvement in corruption in Bulgaria. In his ministerial capacity, he is also a member of the board of governors at the European Investment Bank as of 17 May 2017. During the first Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of EU in the first half of 2018, Goranov was the first Bulgarian Finance minister to preside the Economic and Financial Council (Ecofin).

Apartmentgate 2018

A 2018 media story alleged that then-finance minister Goranov was living in a luxury apartment rent-free, provided by a businessman who was the beneficiary of public procurement contracts. The media story prompted an investigation by Bulgaria's anti-corruption body. The body eventually found no clear evidence of corruption under Bulgarian law, as the contracts were awarded by other ministries.

Allegations of corruption in gambling commission

In May 2020, the main private gambling operation in Bulgaria published screenshots of text messages allegedly exchanged with Goranov. These messages suggested that finance minister Goranov intervened with the State Gambling Commission—which reports to the Ministry of Finance—and advised its chairpersons to avoid disrupting private businesses in exchange for bribes.

The Anti-Corruption Fund forwarded those messages to Bulgaria's Prosecutor General, highlighting possible collusion or undue political influence in favor of private gambling enterprises against large sums of money.

Systemic corruption

Bulgaria's Anti-Corruption Fund asserted that between 2017 and 2019, a gambling sector businessman transferred approximately 60 million BGN (~€30 million) to Goranov in exchange for beneficial treatment and favorable legislation. This claim triggered a criminal investigation, and in March 2022, Goranov was briefly detained related to allegations of blackmail and systemic corruption.

In February 2023, the U.S. Treasury officially sanctioned Vladislav Goranov under the Global Magnitsky Act for his role in a corruption scheme. He was accused of using his position as Finance Minister to facilitate bribery, enabling favorable legislation that deprived the state of tax revenues and delivered tens of millions of euros to oligarchs in the gambling industry. Goranov is one of only two former finance ministers worldwide sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act, the other being former Lebanese minister Ali Hassan Khalil.

In 2024, the European Public Prosecutor's Office said it was working on allegations of “Systemic corruption against senior public officials,” including former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov.