Slavi Binev

Slavcho Penchev Binev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, on 10 December 1965. He grew up in the capital during the communist era and was drawn to sport from childhood, attending a specialist sports school from the age of seven. Friends and the press almost always called him Slavi.

Binev attended the 47th sports school "Emil Markov" attached to the Levski Spartak club (1973 to 1979) and from the 9th French Language School in Sofia (1979 to 1984). He received a master's degree, specialising in tennis and boxing, from the National Sports Academy "Vasil Levski" (1986 to 1990), and completed an optional programme in sports journalism (1988 to 1990). He took an international instructors' course in Vienna, specialised as a taekwondo coach in Canada (1988 to 1992) and completed a sports management course in the United Kingdom (1992). He also worked toward a doctorate at the Institute of Psychology of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. He spoke French, English, Russian and Italian.

Between 1987 and 1992 Binev was a multiple Bulgarian taekwondo champion. He became absolute Balkan champion in 1990 and won the open European championship in Celje, Slovenia, in 1992. He coached the Bulgarian national team from 1987 to 1994, became an international instructor in 1988 and was senior coach of combat sports at CSKA from 1991 to 1994. He held a fifth dan in the World Taekwondo style from 2004, and sat on the World Taekwondo research committee from 2003. He served as vice-president of the Bulgarian Olympic Taekwondo Federation from 1996 to 2008, chaired the social commission of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee from 2003 and joined its executive committee in 2005. As federation president he was unanimously re-elected on 29 May 2026 for a new five-year term. He was first vice-president of the European Taekwondo Union and, from October 2025, a member of the World Taekwondo Council, elected in Wuxi with 90 votes.

From 1994 Binev was the main shareholder and board chairman of R-System Holding, which grew to more than 100 companies in entertainment, private security, investment and construction. In the early 2000s the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry ranked it 34th in the country (sources differ on the year). Through M.I.G. Group he operated a string of Sofia venues, among them the clubs Biblioteka, BIAD, Dali and Imperial and the Cool cafes. He co-founded the association "Zashtita", one of the private security structures of the 1990s.

Binev was elected to the European Parliament for Ataka on 20 May 2007 and sat first with the short-lived Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group and then as a non-attached member. He was Ataka's candidate for mayor of Sofia in October 2007 and received 4.02 percent as Boyko Borisov won. Re-elected in 2009, he served on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, chaired the Sport Intergroup. He left Ataka in 2011 and called on European institutions to act against what he described as electoral abuses under Prime Minister Borisov. In 2012 he founded the Conservative Party Movement of Success inside the Civic Union for Real Democracy (GORD), launched on 22 April 2012, and joined the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group. In 2014 he moved to the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria, was second on its European election list in May, and in October was elected to the 43rd National Assembly for Haskovo on the Patriotic Front list. He chaired the Culture and Media Committee briefly before resigning on 8 December 2014, and later chaired the Committee on Children, Youth and Sports. In 2017 he ran on the list of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. In September 2026 he joined the initiative committee that nominated Iliana Iotova and Kiril Valchev for president and vice-president.

Binev was married to Maria. They had five children: Martina, Miroslava, Kaloyan, Elena and Viktoria. Elena Bineva, born in 1999, was a member of Bulgaria's national group in rhythmic gymnastics and won world and European titles in 2018. Binev lived in Sofia's Pavlovo district, where he died. On 3 January 2007 he was blessed as an archon at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome by Metropolitan Galaktion of Stara Zagora, a title the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church later refused to recognise.

Binev began in politics as a nationalist with Ataka and later spoke at events of the UK Independence Party and the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group, warning about socialism, dictatorship and corruption in Bulgaria. In sport he argued that federations needed stable state funding. In March 2026 he complained publicly that his federation had gone months without state funding.

Binev is remembered in Bulgaria as one of the most recognisable figures of the transition years, a symbol both of the era's rough business culture and of the later move by its personalities into mainstream politics. In sport, his federation presided over Bulgaria's first Olympic taekwondo medal (Kimia Alizadeh, bronze, Paris 2024), a European title and, by the federation's count, 198 medals at major championships over five years. His October 2025 election made him the first Bulgarian on the World Taekwondo Council.

European open taekwondo champion (Celje, 1992). Absolute Balkan taekwondo champion (1990). Multiple Bulgarian taekwondo champion (1987 to 1992). Fifth dan, World Taekwondo style (2004). Elected member of the World Taekwondo Council (2025). Archon title conferred in Rome (2007), not recognised by the Bulgarian Holy Synod.

Binev was a frequent guest on Bulgarian television, from talk shows on NOVA and bTV to long-form interviews on regional channels. In 2013 he gave interviews to EU Reporter about crime and corruption in Bulgaria, and his 2017 switch to the DPS list was widely dubbed "the transfer of the season".

Binev's business past attracted lasting scrutiny. Bulgarian media linked his name to the 1990s conflicts between rival security groups, and a confidential US Embassy cable from 2005, published by WikiLeaks, alleged criminal activity connected to M.I.G. Group. The sources consulted for this profile do not report a criminal conviction of Binev. In 2000 businessman Georgi Iliev struck him during a fight at BIAD; Iliev was convicted of causing light bodily harm. His 2007 archon title caused friction with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and his 2014 appointment to chair parliament's Culture and Media Committee triggered protests by theatre, film and broadcasting figures until he resigned.

Slavi Binev was shot dead at his home in the Pavlovo district of Sofia on the morning of Saturday, 24 October 2026. Emergency services received the call at 10:28 local time and an ambulance arrived within seven minutes, but medics could only confirm his death. A worker at the property reported that several people had come to the house and that shots were heard; unofficial reports said he was hit in the head and body. Prosecutors said initial evidence pointed to a sudden personal dispute with acquaintances, while investigators kept other lines open, including past business interests and old conflicts. Three armed men were detained on a motorway outside Sofia shortly afterwards (outlets named both the Hemus and Trakia motorways). Charges, identities and motive had not been officially announced at the time this profile was written. Capital noted it was the second high-profile killing in Bulgaria in a month. He was 60. Funeral arrangements had not been made public.