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Ivan Slavkov, one of the most colourful personalities in this country's public life, was born on 11th May, 1940, in Sofia. An engineer graduate of the Technical University in his native city, a player in the national water-polo team for five years, journalist by profession, he was also the husband and, later, the widower of Liudmila, the daughter of Todor Zhivkov - Bulgaria's former head of state from the totalitarian times.
Contrary to all expectations, after 1989 - the year of change, Slavkov not only retained his high posts but also, in 1995, was elected Chairman of the Bulgarian Football Association. What is more, he easily managed to counter the two subsequent attempts to be displaced from his post by means of two extraordinary congresses in 1996 and 1997. This is easy to explain - wherever he worked, Slavkov left behind quite a few friends and very few enemies. Apart from his personal charm, "Bateto" (the "Uncle"), as both his former and present colleagues and subordinates use to call him, obviously has the required qualities of a good manager and administrator.
Even an abridged list of the posts he has held proves to be really impressive: correspondent of the totalitarian newspaper Rabotnichesko delo in London, Editor-in-Chief of the Bulgarsko foto magazine, Director General of the Bulgarian television, Deputy Minister of Culture, Chairman of the Union of the Bulgarian Philatelists, Chairman of the Young Artist Intelligentsia Club, Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Physical Culture and Sports, President of the "Levski" Football Club in Sofia, etc.
Ivan Slavkov has been the Chairman of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee ever since 1982. In 1985 he was elected member of the Executive Committee of the Association of the European National Olympic Committees, three years later he became its Vice-president. He has been member of the International Olympic Committee since 1987.
Slavkov is known for his close contacts with a number of top officials in the most important sports organizations in the world. Nevertheless, he failed to pass Sofia's candidature to host the Winter Olympic Games.
In 1997, at last, Bateto remarried, thus putting an end to his widowerhood. He and his wife Valentina share a 4-room flat in the centre of Sofia with his mother and sister. Slavkov has a son, Todor, by his first wife Liudmila. He is a keen art collector, among his hobbies are photography, water sports, tennis, skiing, hunting and under-water fishing. He founded the "Forward, Bulgaria!" party for the 1994 elections, but it failed to enter Parliament.
1998
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