His mother, Maria Boikikeva was born in Moscow and was a member of the Communist party, from which she was later suspended due to her support for Václav Havel.

[4] Between 1996 and 2002, he worked as a coordinator of legal and justice reform projects under the Initiative for Rule of Law at the American Bar Association.

Between 2002 and 2006, he worked as an independent consultant for various international institutions and private clients on projects related to the evaluation of legislations and promoting the rule of law.

Between 2006 and 2014, Ivanov was Program Director at the Bulgarian Institute for Legal Initiatives, where he led projects related to the judicial reform, the prevention of corruption and promoting the rule of law.

[citation needed] He was registered as a lawyer in 2002, but because of unpaid bar association fees he lost his license to practice law [5][6] In December 2016, Ivanov announced his intention to create a new political party called "Yes, Bulgaria!"

[7] Following his resignation from Borisov's government, Ivanov stated that he had remained committed to the rule of law and would continue to argue for reform in Bulgaria's Prosecution.

It turns it into a source of corruption and blackmail and creates opportunities for its use for political aims.”[8] In 2017, Ivanov repeatedly argued that Bulgaria's Prosecutor General Sotir Tsatsarov should resign "without any doubt.

Ivanov rejected the allegations, stating that "his name had been caught up in the scandal with the purpose of placing everyone under a common denominator" and insisted that he had no properties obtained through "illegal or suspicious means".

There they were intercepted by security guards from National Service for Protection, who insisted that the beach was privately owned, pushed them into the water, and called the police, which assisted them.

[20] This scandal, along with the police raid on the Presidency of Bulgaria two days later, sparked several months of major protests against the government of Boyko Borisov.

The talks, which included Maya Manolova's IzpraviSe.BG movement, the "Poisonous Trio" of independent protest organizers and Slavi Trifonov's 'There Is Such A People party offered Ivanov and his DB to be part of the coalition.