Svetoslav Kantardzhiev is not one of those people whose name often appears in the spotlight. He is the owner of the media group “Selevkidi” which includes over 50 publications and 170 Facebook pages. He took his first steps in online media nearly a decade ago when he bought the lifestyle and investigative websites kliuki.bg, razkritia.com, kliuki.net, and kliuki.ws from journalist and publisher Georgi Kalenderov. He actively works in the advertising business, owning over 150 billboards. In 2008, he was invited to be the financial director at “New Media Group,” the publisher that manages the newspapers “Weekend,” “Minaha Godini” “Every Day,” and the magazine “Biograph.” In 2009, he became the executive director alongside Nedyalko Nedyalkov. Few people know that he is the founder of the foundation for the preservation of cultural heritage “Mizia.”
He was born on April 11, 1977, an Aries, and graduated from 35th High School “Dobri Voynikov” as well as with a master's degree in political science from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski.”
Despite his work being in one of the most public fields – media and advertising – he has always preferred to stay behind the scenes. Until today, when it became clear that he is acquiring one of the largest and most significant news agencies – PIK.
Why its founder Nedyalko Nedyalkov decided to step down and what connects the two, the answers are provided by the owner of the media group “Selevkidi.”
Interview by Asen Rashkov, Editor-in-Chief of PIK:
– Mr. Kantardzhiev, the founder of PIK, Nedyalko Nedyalkov, surprisingly announced that he is retiring from the publishing business and transferring his last “child” to you. Usually, sales of media of this caliber have always been accompanied by abundant rumors circulating in the industry for months in advance. But you two surprised everyone.
– My friend Nedyalko said something very defining about the past and the future of our joint project: “I flatter myself that PIK is one of the last bastions of free speech in a media environment completely overtaken by the liberal establishment and government censorship.” I would add that PIK will continue to be a haven for free speech, and I am certain of that. Mr. Nedyalkov and I have known each other for over 20 years, working side by side on some of his most prominent media projects, such as the newspaper “Weekend.” The difference between me, Nedyalko, and the journalists with whom we stepped into the media market years ago is that my work has been focused on the management and advertising of the publications. If Nedyalko and the other journalists we started with years ago are the spirit, I am the engine, whose function has always been to ensure decent remuneration for colleagues and the financial freedom to create without being burdened by everyday worries. This is what I will do now – I will focus on creating adequate conditions in which the talent of people like Sonya Koltuklieva, Asen Rashkov, and the other colleagues can flourish, they have a cozy professional environment and even greater independence. They should be confident that in me, they have protection and a back to rely on for their future journalistic investigations and expressions.
– And yet why was there this secrecy?
– There is no mystery. Nedyalko and I are together almost daily, exchanging thoughts about the media environment, censorship, economic pressure on writers, and so at one point, he offered me to take over PIK. Perhaps because he knows that I will definitely keep the publication in the form in which I inherited it. The same freedom will reign in the PIK newsroom, and the same principles laid down by Nedyalko Nedyalkov will be upheld. The only thing I can offer is the protection of journalists from external pressure – both political and economic. This between Mr. Nedyalkov and me is not a deal, or at least not in the way people are used to understanding it. It is a friendly shoulder so that he can develop new projects in the public sphere. I am his student and see myself exactly this way – as a person who is called to preserve and protect the spirit, passion, and energy that made PIK a leader in the news market.
– How do you plan to ensure all this?
– Nedyalko taught me that successful media should be self-sustaining and not dependent on public resources such as public procurement, European and other programs, etc. The media I currently manage are funded solely by advertising, including Google ads. The commercial partners who advertise in my other media have clauses in their contracts that they have no right to interfere in editorial policy. My ambition is to develop PIK as a platform where leading economic entities can present their activities under clear and transparent conditions. They will receive readership and a loyal audience from us. But nothing more. I would never trade media freedom for financial security.
– Who is Svetoslav Kantardzhiev? When searching your name on Google, we find numerous sites associated with you, including “Svobodno Slovo” whose camera and microphone are in the parliament alongside the major national TV stations. We read information about your interests in archaeology, numismatics, cultural heritage. Your name is also associated with the fashion business.
– As I mentioned earlier, it was precisely Nedyalko Nedyalkov who introduced me to media and journalism. I have been in the communication market since the beginning of the new century, but my first steps are related to advertising, specifically outdoor advertising. I run an advertising agency that owns over 150 billboards nationwide. What I am proud of is that I have not participated in municipal billboard tenders and do not take facilities for a pittance to sublet them at tenfold inflated prices. On the contrary – all my deals for outdoor advertising are entirely commercial and fair for every participant in the process. Being on this market, our paths crossed with Nedyalko, and he invited me to the newspaper “Weekend,” where again I was responsible for advertising and attracting partners. From Mr. Nedyalkov, I learned another principle that I will apply in PIK – creative activity and content should be entirely separated from funding. This was the case even in the early years of “Weekend,” and I have never allowed myself to interfere in what Nedyalko or Martin (current owner and editor-in-chief of the newspaper) write. This, of course, brought me the displeasure of many people with means. They believed that since they were paying for advertising spaces, they could dictate what appears on the pages. It was a heavy price that we still pay today. In 2009, I headed the management of the entire group of publications that emerged around the newspaper in its most successful years – the newspaper “Weekend,” the newspaper “Every Day,” the newspaper “Minaha Godini” marketing and advertising in the magazine “Biograph.” There is no one in the media market I have not worked with – from editors-in-chief, journalists, photographers, cameramen, even technical staff – I dare say I know them by name.
Thus, we reached 2012-2013 when, with a few other journalists, we decided to take advantage of the potential of the Internet. We created the strongest lifestyle site of its time, where my role again was to find advertisers and funding. Around it, we founded and acquired a series of other sites specializing in lifestyle and investigative journalism. The Internet offers incredible freedom; news reaches readers in seconds, and the lack of censorship allows things to be said that immediately turn processes upside down, not only here. I don't suffer from undue modesty, so I will mention that the hottest scandals in the high society started from my sites razkritia.com and kliuki.bg, where heavy investigations into the underworld, political and economic elite were published. It got to the point where dangerous bosses, some of whom are no longer among us, sought revenge against me because my journalists shed light on their schemes, dependencies, and connections with top politicians. All this readers received in an accessible language, presented vividly, colorfully, and excitingly. It is still the same today.
Over the years, we have expanded our portfolio and themes. The site for crime news crimes.bg was born, the purely news “Mreja.bg,” and in 2022, I was invited to invest in one of the most significant media in the field of conservatism and patriotism – “Svobodno Slovo”. As you can see for yourself, its editorial policy has remained unchanged; my contribution was only to upgrade it as a news agency. We purchased TV equipment, invited journalist Anelia Duleva and cameraman Simeon Krushkov to join us, and today – two years later, the media broadcasts live from the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the Sofia City Council, and journalists conduct serious investigations revealing many of the shortcomings in society.
– How many media do you manage to date?
– The portfolio of “Selevkidi” media group includes over 50 online publications, covering the entire spectrum of public interest. The only media I haven't managed are sports media and those specializing in financial-economic topics. I am in daily contact with many of the publishers, editors-in-chief, and journalists from other media, and we have good relations.
– And yet, why PIK? Isn't a media outlet of this caliber too big a bite even for you?
– To be honest, this was Mr. Nedyalkov's idea and proposal. For a long time, he had been looking for someone who resonates on the same frequency, if I can use the modern "new age" jargon. The fact is that he is my teacher, and I have applied his principles for developing journalistic projects throughout my life. From him, I know that several large economic groups have tried to make him offers, but he was clear that this way, PIK would be controlled, and its freedom would be locked in a golden cage. With me, it's the opposite – I refuse to meddle with the journalists, I honestly do not want to step into the role of a media boss and influential publisher. Maybe I won't be able to open the cornucopia for the staff there – I will fund the media conservatively, but I will protect the dignity of the writers and photographers in the newsroom. Nedyalko and I share the same ideology, our political beliefs are very similar, and we both have a taste for scandal and a sense of finding it everywhere. We are not afraid to expose dirty laundry, we don't fall into dependencies. And we know how to decline even seemingly advantageous offers. This brought us together and gives me the strength to continue his work. Just like my current media, PIK is an independent publication, and I will preserve it as such. It takes courage to fund an inconvenient media. I will draw such courage from the journalistic team that stands behind me.
– I have to ask you, will this media be a tool for political influence in your hands?
– As I just mentioned – my role in “New Media Group” (editor's note: publisher of “Weekend”) was purely managerial; I even had a notarized agreement with the editor-in-chief not to interfere in editorial policy. Anyone worried that I might lean in defense of certain interests can open any of the websites I've founded and check if there has been such a tendency so far. They will most likely be disappointed. The media is not a sterile space devoid of its understanding of processes. Quite the opposite. PIK is strong precisely because of the strong personal positions of Nedyalko, Sonya Koltuklieva, and the other journalists. I also have my political biases, I work entirely with personal funds, I don't touch public resources, which is why I have the privilege to choose reporters and editors whose beliefs are close to mine and give them a platform to express those beliefs. So PIK, like my other media, will not be uninteresting – on the contrary, it will be bright, polemical, with a distinct personality, including a political one. Media is primarily passion, ideology, and a platform for defending beliefs. This will not stop me from exposing the flaws of even those individuals and organizations I privately sympathize with.
– How does the media business relate to your work in the field of cultural heritage? You are the founder of the “Mizia” foundation.
– Preserving cultural heritage, history, and archaeology is another passion and hobby of mine, to which, I admit, I don't have the time and resources to fully dedicate myself. I have a classical education, having graduated from the 35th High School "Dobri Voynikov" in Sofia, where the teachers sparked my interest in the past and the spiritual achievements of Bulgaria. Over time, this led to my interest in collecting, and I hope that one day I will be able to develop this hobby into an activity that supports the state in preserving its material and spiritual heritage.
– Everything you say so far is wonderful, but what would you say to those who associate your name with activities not quite fitting for a publisher? In publications after 2010, you are cited in an openly underground context, even with a characteristic nickname added to your name?
– I will return to the time after 2010 when I was first the financial director and then the executive director at “New Media Group.” The period coincides with the breaking up of several horrific criminal gangs involved in kidnappings, racketeering, and beatings. The most notorious among them was the "Naglite" group, but they were not the only ones. On the pages of “Weekend,” numerous journalistic investigations were published, describing the brutality with which underground figures operated – how they kidnapped people, cut off fingers, and committed various other atrocities. I incurred the wrath of many formidable figures, including the now-deceased Alexey Petrov and Anton Petrov-Hamstera, most notably their anger. In revenge against the people from the media team, a dirty and disgraceful campaign was financed, in which I was presented as a participant in criminal processes, and they gave me a colorful nickname, typical of Alexey Petrov. You know how he operated in the period 2008-2010, the streets, the Ministry of Interior, and the Prosecutor's Office were his. I read at that time that I was an arms dealer, selling surface-to-air missiles to Syria, involved in trafficking, and whatnot. For people who know me, such writings seemed ridiculous because I am known more as a "bookish" person with a taste for science, words, and history. If there was anything positive about my defamation, it was that this false aura of a "bad boy" made me more attractive to the fairer sex. If I have to be serious – time has proven the baselessness of such slanders. However, the price was paid by my closest people. This is exactly why it is difficult for me to forgive the spreaders of these lies, even though some are no longer among us.
– Before you tell me about your first steps in fashion, I will refer to an article from nearly two decades ago, where this time you were linked with “Toplofikatsiya” and contracts your fashion agency had with the monopoly company?
– I'll start from the end. In 1998, I made my first steps in social circles by creating the advertising and fashion agency “J Models,” which organized the beauty contests “Top Model Bulgaria.” Simultaneously, I founded my first billboard advertising agency “VIP Group 77” Ltd. I can boldly say that “J Models” was an organization that gave models the opportunity to be involved solely and exclusively in fashion. I insisted they stay away from activities that would bring a bad reputation to this business. The fact is that we were not always able to control the models in this business. This can be confirmed by some of my competitors at the time, with whom we still have more than good, friendly relations. It's no coincidence that the end of the fashion agency coincided with the beginning of the global financial-economic crisis after 2007. Unlike other agencies that used beauty as a camouflage for not-so-moral and legal activities, I did not have their unofficial financial resources and preferred to leave the fashion business. As for “Toplofikatsiya,” “J Models” had won an open competition for three contracts with “Toplofikatsiya – Sofia.” All of them were for creating a brochure containing a collage depicting the most famous buildings in Sofia under the slogan "Light and warmth for all." They were also supposed to include portraits of famous figures from politics, business, sports, and culture. Unfortunately, my company was among the dozens, maybe even hundreds, of contractors of the monopoly, harmed by the not very fair attitude of its management at the time. To preserve my good name, I returned the sum of 24,000 BGN, which was paid to me under these contracts. However, I kept the lesson to stay away from any activity involving public resources and state companies.
– And a final question – what was the price of the deal for PIK, and how did you finance the purchase?
– Entirely with my own funds. At the risk of repeating myself – this was not a deal, but a friendly gesture and passing the baton from my teacher Mr. Nedyalkov to me. The price is respectable and fair, but it would not be ethical to talk in figures. I wish the entire team success, and may God help us!
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