The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the camera pointed at Bobov Dol TPP. But who is investigating the plant’s owner?
Last week, activists installed a camera facing the chimney of Bobov Dol Thermal Power Plant (TPP) and started a live stream to show, in real time, the smoke billowing from the plant and the pollution that has been neglected for years.
The authorities finally reacted. But not to the pollution — to a complaint from the polluter.
According to media reports, the Kyustendil District Prosecutor’s Office ordered an inspection following a complaint by representatives of the TPP. They argue that because the plant is designated as a strategic facility of importance to Bulgaria’s national and energy security, filming it is illegal. It is worth noting that the camera is located more than 15 km away from the plant.
The Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) submitted requests for information to the District Prosecutor’s Office and the Kyustendil Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior under the Access to Public Information Act.
We asked them exactly what critical details about the power plant could possibly be revealed by the video surveillance, given that the facility itself can barely be distinguished through the thick haze of flue gases surrounding it.
Actually, we did not ask them that exact question.
But we do encourage you to see for yourselves what the camera is actually showing.
Joking aside, what we did ask the Prosecutor’s Office was whether it would take steps to clarify the ownership of an energy facility considered so important to Bulgaria’s security.
Will it try to establish who Antriana Christodoulou from Cyprus is — the person who, on paper at least, is the director of the company that owns Bobov Dol TPP?
We also asked about the owner itself: the UK-registered STOCKETT LIMITED. We wanted to know whether the Prosecutor’s Office is aware that the owner of Bobov Dol TPP is a shell company with share capital of just £1, no business activity and no published assets.
We will keep you informed if the Kyustendil District Prosecutor’s Office manages to find answers to questions we have repeatedly put to Bulgaria’s State Agency for National Security — questions that remain unanswered to this day. Namely: has the agency investigated the numerous energy companies associated with Kovachki’s invisible “Orion” holding?
Of course, we have raised these and many other questions — about Bobov Dol TPP and its alleged true owner, Hristo Kovachki — with the government of Rosen Zhelyazkov, as well as that of Rumen Radev.
The answers are still missing.
If, like us, you believe that public institutions owe society answers and action, join our “Ask About Kovachki” campaign.
Join our “Ask About Kovachki” campaign.