A minister in the previous socialist Bulgarian government was officially indicted for embezzlement on Tuesday (22 February) and was later released on bail, reported Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner publication in Bulgaria.
Emilia Maslarova, a social affairs minister in the government of former Socialist Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev, was released on bail for 25,000 euros, an unusually high sum.
Together with four other officials, Maslarova was accused of having siphoned 5.5 million euros, the prosecutor’s office announced. The sums were related to public procurement for the rehabilitation of a home for elderly people in the city of Stara Zagora, a scheme already dubbed by the public as “the most expensive repair work in history".
'Biggest theft in history'
The day before, Bulgarian Minister Miroslav Naydenov described the episode as "the biggest theft" of Bulgaria's tormented transition period. The enormous corruption scheme took the form of "swaps" of land and forests, which took place under the past two governments.
"The financial losses resulting from the swaps amount to billions, not to mention the damage caused to the ecosystem," said the minister, speaking in Brussels to Dnevnik's correspondent.
According to NGOs, losses incurred by the state from 'swaps' amount to eight billion euros.
Corruption or state aid?
Under the so-called 'swaps', local authorities authorise the exchange of privately-owned low-rated land with state-owned parcels located in the most attractive tourist locations.
Those who benefited from the scheme were usually close to the government, and the average profit rate from the operation is estimated at 1 vs. 100. Some of the profits from 'swaps' have reportedly been used to fill party slush funds.
The swaps would have gone unnoticed in Brussels had the European Commission not considered some 300 such operations as unauthorised state aid and threatened to impose huge fines on Bulgaria. Sofia is still putting in place a strategy to respond to Brussels, as the fine may amount to 750 million if all the 'swaps' since the country's accession are examined.
Tough questions
Before leaving for Brussels, Georgi Parvanov, Bulgaria's president since 2002, said he wanted the "economic files" of his country's transition to be re-opened. Speaking on national radio, he cited the case of Alexei Petrov, a special forces turned mafia boss (EurActiv 12/01/10), as one argument in favour of a more thorough investigation of "who is who" in recent Bulgarian history.
Asked if he would feel comfortable answering questions from his Brussels counterparts over the swaps, which largely took place during the governments of Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and Sergey Stanishev, to whom he was close, Parvanov said he was not afraid of tough questions. However, he added that he would prefer to develop his ideas on how to make Bulgaria stronger in the EU.
Indeed, after a series of meetings with EU representatives, including Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Commission President José Manuel Barroso, Energy Commissioner Guenter Oettinger and others, Parvanov told the press that energy security and enhancing regional cooperation in the Western Balkans had been his main topics.
Parvanov said he had insisted with Commissioner Oettinger that Belene, a nuclear power plant at an early stage of construction, should become a European project (EurActiv 03/09/08).
"We have to attract investors such as France and Germany," he said. Asked if Oettinger had expressed concern over the fact that Belene could be financed with Russian funds, he said that this would not be the case. Moscow recently proposed to Sofia a loan of two billion euros, to allow construction of the plant to continue over the next two years until a strategic investor is found.
Pipeline controversy
Parvanov also said that Oettinger had attached equal importance to the two pipelines, which are planned to run through Bulgarian territory – Nabucco and South Steam. Asked by EurActiv, Parvanov confirmed that the two projects were of equal importance to the Commission.
"What did strike me is that the Commission has the same approach with Nabucco and South Stream," he said. He added, however, that Bulgaria was more supportive of Nabucco because the country's contacts with Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan for gas imports offered additional guarantees of the project's feasibility.
When EurActiv contacted the Commission for clarification, it emerged that Oettinger had expressed a more nuanced view.
"The Commission welcomes every project which helps the EU to diversify its gas supplies. However, Nabucco is our priority," Oettinger was quoted as saying by his spokesperson, Marlene Holzner.
Leading role in Balkans?
The Bulgarian president also said he had proposed to Council President Herman Van Rompuy that Bulgaria would take the role of coordinator of the Union's strategy for the Western Balkans. He added that Van Rompuy had asked for a written proposal, which he said would be submitted shortly on behalf of all Bulgarian institutions.
This initiative appears to be well-coordinated within the government, as it emerged that Foreign Minister Nickolay Mladenov, who is also in Brussels, had made a similar proposal in a separate meeting with EU High Representative Catherine Ashton.
Asked by EurActiv if Bulgaria's new regional initiative implied that the country was not happy with existing regional formats, Parvanov said: "On the contrary, we would strive to fill in with new content the existing frameworks of regional cooperation, to give them new life."
He added that leaders of the region met quite often, but with few practical results. One framework of cooperation to be developed further is the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), he specified.
Commission President Barroso seemingly encouraged Parvanov here.
"Bulgaria can be the backbone of a stable and prosperous region," Barroso told the press.
The Commission president also hailed Parvanov for being "one of the leaders who inspired the debate for the Europe 2020 strategy".
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