| Yuliyana Plevnelieva | |
| Office: | First Lady of Bulgaria |
| Term Label: | In role |
| Term Start: | 22 January 2012 |
| Term End: | 22 January 2017 |
| Predecessor: | Zorka Parvanova |
| Successor: | Desislava Radeva |
| President: | Rosen Plevneliev |
| Birth Date: | 28 January 1975 |
| Birth Place: | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Children: | Three sons |
| Alma Mater: | New Bulgarian University |
Yuliyana Yurieva Plevnelieva (Bulgarian: Юлияна Юриева Плевнелиева; born 28 January 1975) is a Bulgarian journalist and First Lady of Bulgaria from 2012 until 2017.[1] She is the ex-wife of former Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev, whom she divorced in 2017.
Plevnelieva was born on 28 January 1975.[1] [2] She graduated from Second English High School in Sofia and studied law at New Bulgarian University (NBU) in Sofia.[1] [2] She also attended City University of Seattle in the United States for finance during the 2000s.[1] [2]
In 2000, she married Rosen Plevneliev, who is eleven years older than her. It was her first marriage and Plevneliev's second.[2] The couple had three sons: Philip (born 2000), Asen (born 2001) and Pavel (born 2006).[2] Their eldest son, Philip, died from heart disease in 2015.[1]
Plevnelieva worked as a coordinator for the Bulgarian IDLO Alumni Association from August 2003 to September 2004.[2] In 2004, Plevnelieva was hired by Economedia, a business media company.[1] [2] (The Plevneliev family were close friends with businessman Ivo Prokopiev, the owner of Economedia).[2] She continued her work at Economedia while serving as First Lady of Bulgaria.[2] Her stories were published in Capital, a weekly newspaper published by Economedia.[2] Soon after her husband assumed the presidency, Plevnelieva left Economedia to establish her own company.[1]
During her husband's presidency, Yuliyana Plevnelieva general eschewed the role official and unofficial protocols of first lady, instead focusing on her family and career.[1] For example, Plevnelieva did not grant a single interview during her years in the role.[1]
In October 2017, Plevnelieva and Plevneliev announced their divorce after 17 years amid speculation of an affair by the former president.[1] [3] Former President married his third wife, Desislava Banova, shortly after the divorce was finalized.
After the divorce Plevnelieva got back her maiden name - Yordanova.