site.btaEconomy Ministry to Alert Prosecution Office about Ministerial Complex Project in Sofia Tech Park

Sofia, July 23 (BTA) - Caretaker Economy Minister Kiril Petkov
Friday said that his ministry is preparing an alert to the
prosecution service about a project for "a ministerial complex
in Sofia Tech Park". Elaborated by the State Consolidation
Company and Sofia Tech Park, the project envisages the
construction of two office buildings for civil servants with a
height of 75 m and 50 m, respectively, on a terrain of 2.48 ha
on Sofia's Tsarigradsko Chaussee Boulevard.

Petkov was taking questions live on the Council of Ministers'
Facebook page as part of a new feature called The Power Speaks
Openly, launched on Friday. Within this feature, cabinet members
 will answer questions asked by members of the public and the
media live on: https://www.facebook.com/Government.of.Bulgaria.

According to Minister Petkov, the ministerial complex project
should be stopped.  "I cannot find a sound reason why this
complex should be built at a time when we have so many
priorities for our finances that should be economically and
socially beneficial. Why should we choose to invest 190 million
leva in a skyscraper in Sofia Tech Park - that sounds like a
crazy idea to me," Petkov commented.

The plan to build a skyscraper for civil servants in Sofia Tech
Park became known several months ago at towards the end of Boyko
 Borissov's third cabinet.

The State Oil Company

Asked about the State Oil Company set up in 2020 through
government-sponsored amendments to the State Reserve and Wartime
 Stocks Act, Minister Petkov said that during his nine weeks in
office, he failed to understand why this company should exist.
In his words, if the caretaker government had a longer term in
office, he would have closed the State Oil Company. Also, he
would have conducted an overall revision of the State Reserve so
 as to open it on a much more competitive principle, with more
participants.

The State Oil Company was planned to maintain fuel reserves in
the State Reserve that would be renewed at a certain period of
time and would allow the State to compete with private companies
 on the market.

According to Petkov, at present the State Reserve is not working
 in an optimal manner. "In my opinion, certain money is going
down the drain," he commented. In his words, the competition on
the market for these fuel reserves is very small because there
are only two or three companies participating. "I see no reason
to set up a new State-owned company in order to solve our
problem with the State Reserve," he said.
 
The Global Magnitsky Act

Answering a question about the US sanctions imposed on Bulgarian
 individuals and companies last month under the Global Magnitsky
 Act, Petkov said that these sanctions have had a positive
effect, despite dealing a blow to Bulgaria's reputation, in that
 "we had to hear it from outside" that "we cannot handle our own
 problems with corruption".

On June 2, the US Department of the Treasury reported that its
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned three
Bulgarian individuals for their extensive roles in corruption in
 Bulgaria, as well as their networks encompassing 64 entities.
The sanctions ban the persons from entering the USA, and block
their companies and bank accounts there.

According to the Economy Minister, foreign investors from Europe
 and the US have commented that what happened under the Global
Magnitsky Act is the tipping point of the corruption model and
shows a new direction for Bulgaria's development, because in
their view, the country's economic indices are perfect but the
high risk of corruption has curbed their intentions to invest
here.
     
NV/DS