No Sanctions for MP in Possible Conflict of Interest Case

The Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF) has sent a report to the Commission for Anti-Corruption and the Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Property (CAFIAP) regarding possible administrative violations by a member of Parliament, Volen Siderov.

For more that three months Mr. Siderov has failed to declare changes in his circumstances in his assets and interests declaration. The MP had founded a company Galeria Stil OOD in which he was also majority owner. He should have declared the above-mentioned facts within a period of seven days, a step which Mr. Siderov failed to take.

At the time of submission of the ACF report, Mr. Siderov had still not filed an updated asset declaration and was in violation of the Anti-Corruption and Forfeiture of Illegally Acquired Property Act. This is an administrative violation and is subject to a fine in the range of BGN 1,000 – BGN 3,000.

With a decision from 12 April 2018 CAFIAP determined that the MP had violated the law. However, the commission applied a narrow interpretation of the relevant legal texts and thus Mr. Siderov was not fined and the proceedings — stopped.