From Pazardzhik To Prague: Ginka Varbakova and the multilevel clientelism and corruption in the energy sector

The Anti-Corruption Fund has filed a report to the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding a deal between a municipality in the Southern part of the country and a private company, Rial Steyts LLC. The company was supposed to build a 50MW solar park on land that Pazardzhik Municipality had sold to it. Estimated to cost BGN 400 mln. (EUR 200 mln.), the photovoltaic facility was supposed to create at least 52 jobs in the region. To this date, less that 3MW has been built and the municipality has failed to demand its due penalty, amounting to EUR 1 mln. The fund’s analysis shows that the local authorities did not take sufficient care in managing municipal property. This case is a prime example of the failure of preventive mechanisms at the local level and the need to enforce existing regulations more stringently. You can download the case brief from HERE.