site.btaPresident's Veto on New Concessions Act Draws Mixed Reactions

President's Veto on New Concessions Act Draws Mixed Reactions

Sofia, February 3 (BTA) - Speaking at a roundtable organized by his party on Friday, former Ataka MP Nikolai Alexandrov congratulated Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on vetoing the Concessions Act passed by the 43rd National Assembly. Alexandrov noted, however, that it is uncertain whether the next parliament is bound to consider the law returned by the head of State for a new debate. He described the Concessions Act as "a disaster" because it makes possible perpetual concessions.

The nationalist party representatives want natural resources to be in the hands of the State. "The draining of national wealth must stop," said another ex-MP, Ilian Todorov. He argued that the water sector is managed by state-owned companies in a number of countries like Greece, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands and Portugal. "Water is not a commodity, it is a public good that must be accessible to all citizens," said former Ataka MP Magdalena Tasheva. "With the planned increase of water prices in Sofia, water-poor, who cannot afford to pay their water bills, will be added to the energy-poor and food-poor," she insisted, referring to an 18 per cent hike of the price of water proposed by Sofiyska Voda.

According to Pavel Shopov, underlying concessions is a colonial model which is not applied in developed countries and genuine democracies.

Former President (2002-2012) Georgi Purvanov said in a bTV interview Friday Morning that he supports the veto and its tersely formulated reasons. "In my opinion, possibilities of corrupt practices and risks of impairing the national interest can really be suspected. Therefore, this step taken by President Radev is categorically positive," Purvanov noted.

He sees the risk of sanctions from the European Commission due to the presidential veto as "slightly exaggerated". "First, because this is a law passed by an outgoing parliament, in rather dubious circumstances. And, secondly, because we will not blindly obey Brussels's orders about everything. "We cannot have all sorts of decisions and positions imposed on us top down and be expected to comply submissively." Purvanov urged Bulgarian politicians to firmly stand up for our country's national interests so that it could take its befitting place in the EU.

For his part, EPP/GERB MEP Emil Radev fears that Bulgaria will most probably incur sanctions from the European Commission on account of the President's Veto. The MEP said on bTV Friday morning that Bulgaria is nearly a year late transposing the relevant EU directives, which are packaged with a directive on public procurement transparency. Radev noted that the veto came on the same day as the European Commission sent Bulgaria a reasoned opinion, which is the second step of an infringement procedure. He implied that the President's move may have been prompted by intervention of the Socialists or Russia.

The MEP argued that the absence of a maximum period for concessions is provided for in the EU directive and that, in practice, the head of State called the EU legislation lobbyist.

To halt the infringement procedure, the directive must become Bulgarian law within two months, which is impossible in the current political situation, according to Emil Radev.