| Bulgarian political and public figure, diplomat Date of Birth: 25.02.1958 Country: Bulgaria |
Petko Draganovwas born on January 25, 1958, in Cairo, Egypt. In 1976, he graduated from an English language high school in Sofia, Bulgaria. Seven years later, in 1983, he earned a degree in International Law from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
After graduation, Draganov joined the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He worked in the Department of Foreign Political Information and the African Department.
Draganov served as a diplomat at the Bulgarian Embassy in Ghana (1985-1986) and Zimbabwe (1990-1993). In 1993, he became Bulgaria's first ambassador to South Africa, serving until 1998.
Draganov was appointed as Bulgaria's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva. He held this position twice, from 1998 to 2001 and 2005 to 2009.
Between his two terms as Permanent Representative, Draganov served as Deputy Foreign Minister of Bulgaria and Chairperson of the National Commission of the Republic of Bulgaria for UNESCO (2001-2005).
In August-December 2000, Draganov chaired the Conference on Disarmament under the auspices of the United Nations.
He also served as Special Representative for Moldova of the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (2004-2005).
In February 2009, Draganov was elected Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), a position he has held since May 1, 2009.