ACF Reveals Scandalous Appointments of Persons Linked to Political Parties in State-Owned Bulgartransgaz
See the video investigation in English here
The second part of the investigation by the Anti-Corruption Fund Foundation (ACF) into the failed attempt to increase the capacity of the Chiren Underground Gas Storage has revealed political appointments, cushy jobs for well-connected relatives and conflicts of interest in the state-owned gas transit company Bulgartransgaz.
The video, titled Chiren: It Runs in the Family, points to a deep-seated clientelist model within Bulgartransgaz and sheds new light on the failed expansion project, currently under investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
See a file with detailed information about the links here.
“This November, we revealed several serious violations of public procurement legislation committed by Bulgartransgaz as well as the inexplicable passivity of Vladimir Malinov, the company’s executive director at the time, and the public oversight bodies,” said Lora Georgieva, a legal expert with ACF. “The second part of the investigation offers possible answers to the question of why no decisive action was taken to defend the public interest.”
Bulgartransgaz has a de-facto monopoly over the transit of natural gas in Bulgaria and owns and operates several strategic energy facilities in the country.
ACF’s video names several Bulgartransgaz employees with links to political parties, corporate interests and the public institutions tasked with overseeing the company’s activities. An expanded list of 33 suspicious appointments is also being published. In addition, several employees of Bulgartransgaz also hold positions in other public companies and agencies, especially agencies responsible for monitoring the activities of the gas company.
Two of the scandalous appointments are within the company’s Supervisory Board and raise serious concerns about attempts to further Russian interests in the energy sector. Alexander Kanazirski, one of the members of the Supervisory Board, compiled the agenda for the visit (in April 2013) of Alexander Babakov, Vladimir Putin’s special envoy for energy projects and deputy speaker of the Russian parliament. Kanazirski owns multiple companies, one of which, Proteus Management, owes more than BGN 220,000 (EUR 110,000) in unpaid taxes and social security contributions to the National Revenue Agency.
Kiril Georgiev, who has chaired the company’s Supervisory Board since 2014, is a former member of the Sofia Municipal Council representing the political party GERB. At present, Georgiev impressively combines the role within Bulgartransgaz with two other posts — director at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant (his directorate is in charge of the efforts to build two new units at the power plant) and an employee of the Greek private company Mytilineos, which trades in Russian gas.
Tanya Tsvetkova, former head of the political cabinet of Temenuzhka Petkova, an ex-minister of energy from GERB, also has two jobs. She is Chief Specialist for Projects and Financing at Bulgartransgaz as well as an employee of the Ministry of Energy where she works in a department overseeing EU-funded energy projects.
Besides Georgiev and Tsvetkova, several other key Bulgartransgaz employees are linked either to GERB or key party figures:
- Nadya Stoykova, Director of the Public Procurement Directorate and Chief Expert in the Administrative Affairs Department, is the daughter of Dame Stoykov, a close friend of GERB chairperson Boyko Borisov. Stoykov is Vice President of the Bulgarian Judo Federation and Chairperson of the Lokomotiv United Sports Clubs – Sofia. Stoykova is listed as the contracting authority in the documentation of several strategic public contracts, including those for the Chiren Underground Gas Storage.
- Stefka Alexandrova, Secretary of the Management Board and expert in the Key Projects Directorate, is the common-law partner of Ivan Stoyanov, who has served as personal bodyguard to Mr. Borisov for over a decade.
- Anton Georgiev, an employee in the Contract Management Directorate, is the son-in-law of General Todor Kodjeykov, a former bodyguard of Mr. Borisov, who currently serves as director of the public operator that provides air transportation services to the government and the Head of State.
- Delyan Dimitrov, member of the company’s Management Board (from January 2015 until early 2023) is married to Sevdelina Arnaudova-Dimitrova, PR representative of the political party GERB.
- Tanya Zaharieva, the Chair of the GERB-dominated Municipal Council of Haskovo, was formerly Chairperson of the Management Board of Bulgartransgaz (from January 2015 until February 2021). While Ms. Zaharieva held the top post at Bulgartransgaz, her son Teodor Zahariev joined the company, rising in six years from an intern to Deputy Director of Finance and Control— a position involving key decisions on public procurement payments.
However, not all political links are with GERB. For example, Teodor Odrinski, a critical infrastructure specialist and former Chair of the Board of Directors of Trace Group Serbia EAD, is also secretary of the party New Alternative, which (through the party Sbor) is now part of Ahmed Dogan’s Alliance for Rights and Freedoms.
Relatives of key officials in important supervisory public bodies are also well placed in Bulgartransgaz.
Albena Belcheva, a business development specialist, is the daughter of Stefan Belchev, former Deputy Minister of Finance and former Director of the Public Financial Inspection Agency (PFIA). In June this year, PFIA conveniently failed to detect any wrongdoing in the Chiren affair.
Vladimir Malinov, Bulgartransgaz’ former executive director and current Minister of Energy in the caretaker government, is married to Georgitsa Petrova Stoyanova, who has served as member of the Commission for the Protection of Competition since 2016.
The Commission is chaired (also since 2016) by Yulia Nenkova, mother of GERB MP Alexander Nenkov and mother-in-law of Plamena Nenkova, Deputy Director of Glavbolgarstroy, the private company behind the failed attempt to expand the capacity of the Chiren Underground Gas Storage.
Maya Pencheva, Member of the Management Board of Glavbolgarstroy Holding and Executive Officer of Glavbolgarstroy JSC, is the person who signed the contracts for the expansion of Chiren on behalf of the private company. Pencheva’s husband Plamen Penchev is Chief Specialist for Capacity Management at Bulgartransgaz.
The links between Bulgartransgaz and the State Agency National Security (SANS) also deserve attention. A significant number of Bulgartransgaz’ staff are former SANS employees of whom some were hires of the former Communist secret service. This is the case with Ivan Stefanov and Gancho Ganchev, currently specialists for critical infrastructure protection at Bulgartransgaz.
Ganchev’s family is also well-positioned along the SANS – Bulgartransgaz axis. His daughter, Vilyana Yankova, a former security clerk at SANS, is Vladimir Malinov’s secretary — at Bulgartransgaz and currently at the Ministry of Energy. Ganchev’s wife works as a secretary for SANS’ Administrative Secretary Krasimir Slavov. On the other hand, Krasimir Slavov’s son, Slav Slavov, is Chief Specialist of Business Planning and Development at Bulgartransgaz.
It should be noted that many individuals holding key posts at Bulgartransgaz are also employees of the Balkan Gas Hub. Among them are Kiril Ravnachki, Darina Koleva, Simona Barakova – Toneva, Elena Ivanova. The question arises of whether these employees are truly able to fulfill all their professional obligations and whether it is prudent that they are paid salaries by two state-owned enterprises. Appointing the same individuals on key posts within the two companies in addition to the fact that Balkan Gas Hub is fully owned by Bulgartransgaz raises a further question — whether the gas transit company and the gas distribution hub are truly independent entities. The appointments contradict the requirements of the Third Energy Package and violate national and European legislation on competitiveness.
Boyko Stankushev, Director of the ACF, said that the web of dependencies described above raises serious questions of whether Bulgartransgaz is able to act independently. It further questions the effectiveness of the existing public control mechanisms.
“The ability of Bulgartransgaz to fully serve the public interest, as well as that of the control bodies to effectively monitor the decisions of the company’s leadership, is of paramount importance for the successful execution of key energy projects,” he said. “As we saw with the failure of the attempts to expand the capacity of the Chiren Underground Gas Storage, the stakes are high. Such projects are worth billions in European and national financing and their success is essential to the safety of energy supplies and the attempts to lower energy prices in Bulgaria.”
ACF has asked Bulgartransgaz about the appointments discussed in the investigation. Questions were also sent to SANS, the Commission for the Protection of Competition and Glavbolgarstroy. So far, only the private company has answered, and their reply (in Bulgarian) is available here.
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