After the collapse of Communism in Bulgaria, Slavkov (also known as "Bateto", meaning "the elder brother" in Bulgarian) was accused, but subsequently acquitted of several crimes including gross embezzlement of public funds from Sofia's unsuccessful bid for the 1994 Winter Olympics.
In 2000 Slavkov was investigated by the IOC after it was alleged he offered support to a businessman who went on to try and solicit bribes from Cape Town when they were bidding to stage the 2004 Games.
According to Chris Ball, who led the Cape Town bid, the businessman had a letter signed by Slavkov in his capacity as President of the Bulgarian NOC and this man then went on to suggest that he could deliver IOC votes in return for money.
The IOC Ethics Commission immediately recommended that Ivan Slavkov is provisionally deprived "of all the rights, prerogatives and functions deriving from his membership of the IOC" throughout their investigation and that the accreditations of Goran Takač, Gabor Komyathy, Mahmood El Farnawani and Muttaleb Ahmad are immediately withdrawn for the duration of the Olympic Games in Athens.
In 2001 he established a political party named Forward Bulgaria (modeled after Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia) which failed to clear the 4% barrier in order to enter Parliament.