May 3 (SeeNews) - The leader of conservative GERB party, Boyko Borissov, will head Bulgaria's next coalition government, in which Vladislav Goranov will again serve as finance minister, GERB announced on Wednesday.
The executive director of the government's Privatisation Agency, Emil Karanikolov, will serve as economy minister.
Temenuzhka Petkova, who served as energy minister in Borissov's last coalition government (2014-2016), will fill in the same position in the new cabinet, GERB said in a statement on Facebook.
Goranov was finance minister in the 2014-2016 government and deputy finance minister in Borissov's first cabinet (2009-2013).
Nationalist alliance United Patriots, the junior partner of GERB in the new coalition government, will have two of its co-leaders, Krasimir Karakachanov and Valeri Simeonov, serving as deputy prime ministers. Karakachanov will also be defence minister, while Simeonov will be deputy PM in charge of economic and demographic policy.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, justice minister in Borissov's last government, will be minister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister in charge of justice reform in the new cabinet.
Tsetska Tsacheva, the speaker of the previous 43rd parliament, has been nominated for justice minister. She was the candidate of GERB in the presidential election held in November 2016, which she lost to Rumen Radev. Borissov's minority coalition government composed of GERB and right-wing alliance Reformist Bloc resigned following the loss of GERB's candidate and early general elections were held in March which GERB won but fell short of absolute majority in the 240-seat parliament.
Prime-minister designate Boyko Borissov will submit the proposed cabinet line-up to President Rumen Radev on Thursday morning following the successful completion of the exploratory mandate to form government, GERB said.
Liliana Pavlova, who served as regional development minister in Borissov's last government, was nominated for minister in charge of the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU in 2018. Pavlova's deputy at the ministry Nikola Nankov will now serve as minister of regional development.
Bulgaria will hold the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2018 for the first time since joining the bloc in 2007.
Former transport and communications minister Ivaylo Moskovski was nominated to the same position in the new cabinet proposed by Borissov.
Tomislav Donchev, who served as deputy prime minister for EU funds and economic policies in Borissov's last government, was named as deputy prime minister in the new cabinet, according to the statement.
Following early elections in March, GERB has 95 seats in parliament, while United Patriots controls 27.
Borissov's first cabinet resigned in 2013 after protests against high electricity bills escalated into anti-government marches in several Bulgarian cities.