Stefan Botev, who continues to be registered in the Commercial Register as President of the Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation, filed a court petition seeking to have the federation declared insolvent. The document was filed with the Sofia City Court on October 1, 2026, stating that the federation is facing funding problems and is unable to pay its debt to the National Revenue Agency, which amounts to EUR 95,813.70.
If the federation is declared insolvent, it will lose its licence and leave Bulgarian weightlifting without the right to state funding for at least the next year, until a new federation is established. Such a development would prevent Bulgarian athletes from competing at European and World Championships and would effectively turn national team lifters into free agents, allowing them to represent other countries.
Participation at World Championships
Botev’s petition comes just days before the start of the World Championships, which begin on October 27 in Ningbo, China. The final entry lists deadline for the competition was September 27. As of September 18, Bulgarian athletes had already been registered in eight men’s and women’s categories, including Olympic, World and European champion Karlos Nasar, who will compete in the 95 kg category. He is the world-record holder in the clean & jerk in this caregory with 222 kg lifted in 2025.
However, the participation of most of the athletes is threatened by a lack of funding. The federation has been without funding since the beginning of the year because its president did not sign off on last year’s report. In December 2025, the federation’s General Assembly elected Asen Zlatev as its new president. However, he has still not been registered in the Commercial Register because legal proceedings are ongoing following an appeal against his election.
In an interview with bTV on September 28, federation Secretary General Marin Milashki explained that, because of the appeal, the Ministry of Youth and Sports had been forced to coordinate funding directly with the clubs, without communicating with the federation’s headquarters. At the time of the interview, only one of the clubs of the national team athletes had previously submitted the required documents and received funding for preparation and participation in the World Championships – Start (Cherven Bryag), for which Nasar competes.
On October 5, Weightlifting Sports Club Ruse reported that the managements of the sports clubs had been assured by the Ministry that contracts for co-financing their athletes’ participation in the upcoming World Championships in China would be signed in the following days.
Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation Files for Insolvency, Athletes Already Registered for Oct. 27 World Championships THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-10-07 09:32:00
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BULGARIA NEWS – NEWS AGENCY 2009–2026 2026-10-07 09:32:00