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 Yesterday, November 2nd, 2003, the Plovdiv run-off balloting was held between Dr.Ivan Chomakov, representing the coalition Democratic Forces Union, and Dipl.Eng.Zachary Georgiev, the candidate of the Coalition for Plovdiv.  Just as in the first voting last week, the voter participation was extremely low ? almost 200 000 citizens of Plovdiv out of the altogether 303 248 did not vote. Dr.Chomakov won with the slight margin of only 3%. In an interview in the Maritsa newspaper, the newly-elected (and also ex) Mayor of Plovdiv said:
 ?We consider it a great opportunity that we can go on working with the same team that has worked for the city for the last four years. If you have ever had the chance to observe municipalities with new mayors you would know that they really felt inexperienced and they needed at least a year and a half to get acquainted with their job.?

 Dr. Ivan Milkov Chomakov was born on October 15th, 1953, in Plovdiv. He finished his secondary education at the Dimiter Blagoev Humanitarian High School in Plovdiv. After finishing his service in the army (1971-3), he became a Medicine student. He graduated from the Plovdiv Medical University in 1979, and then worked for a couple of years in the Rhodope town of Madan. After receiving a post graduate degree, he became a head teaching specialist at the Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation at the Plovdiv Medical Universtity.In 1985 he had a specialization at the Prof. Chirkov?s Clinic of Heart Surgery. Dr. Chomakov has 23 scientific research publications. After spending three years abroad, in 1997 he became the Parliament member of the 16th Plovdiv election district (at the 38th Bulgarian Parliament), and also the regional leader of the Democratic Forces Union.At the October 1999 Local Elections, he ran for a Mayor and was elected at the first run. He is married and has two children - his wife is a clinic laboratory specialist with a chemical education, their son Milko is 22, and their daughter is 14. Dr. Chomakov is the grandson of the eminent Plovdiv Revival-period figure, Dr. Stoyan Chomakov ? a leading figure in the Bulgarian fight for an independent church and enlightenment in the 19th century Plovdiv.

 BULGARIA after the municipal elections:
 ODS (Democratic Forces Union)   - 10 municipalities
 BSP (Bulgarian Socialist Party)  - 9  municipalities
 NDSV(Party ?National Movement Simeon II?) - 2  municipalities
 SSD (Free Democrats Union)   - 1  Sofia
 DPS (Party ?Movements for Rights and Freedoms?)- 1  mun.
 Independents     - 4  municipalities