Bulgarian Socialist Party
He was born in Pazardzhik and became an economist. After the collapse of the Socialist Bloc in 1989, the Bulgarian Communist Party was renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party and shed its Marxist-Leninist ideology by moving towards social democratic positions. Several factions broke off from the Bulgarian Socialist Party, one of them being named the Communist Party of Bulgaria, which is currently led by Paunov. It is a member of the Socialist-led Coalition for Bulgaria.