The Council of Ministers has proposed, to the president of Bulgaria to award Ivan Nikolov the Stara Planina order, first degree, for exceptional merits connected with the consistent and unwavering assertion of the rights, the national identity and dignity of Bulgarians in Serbia.

Ivan Nikolov has, for many years, been an active representative of the Bulgarian national minority in Serbia, with a leading role in founding the Democratic Union of Bulgarians in Serbia in 1990, of which he was secretary and spokesperson. He is founder of the cultural information centre of the Bulgarian national minority Bosilegrad in 1997, and has been its chairman ever since. Ivan Nikolov is an activist in public affairs, politics and culture committed to resolving the problems of Bulgarians, and has a significant contribution to the preservation of the Bulgarian symbols and spirit in Bosilegrad.