site.btaN-Plant Withdraws Unprecedented Half-Million Leva Claim against Former Employee

The management of the Kozloduy N-plant Tuesday announced that it has withdrawn its half-a-million leva claim against a former employee and her mother over abuse of rights and libel. With the size of the claim being unprecedented for a state-owned company, the case was largely seen as a case of SLAPP, a strategic lawsuit against public participation. 

The case became national news earlier in January just as Lev Ins, the claimant in another unprecedented SLAPP case, for the BGN 1 million against the Mediapool e-zine, lost on first instance. 

Kozloduy said Tuesday that it made its decision to withdraw the claim against Natalia Stancheva and her mother, Yordanka Kulinska, after CEO Valentin Nikolov discussed the matter with the Bulgarian Energy Holding, of which the N-plant is part, and with Energy Minister Rumen Radev.

The claim was lodged in July 2023 before the current Kozloduy CEO took office. The N-plant claimed damages in tort for reports of wrongdoing submitted to competent institutions by the respondents, based on information provided by the N-plant itself and concerning a medical centre located in the Kozloduy campus and allegedly operating in violation of the law.

The present management withdrew the claim in view of its excessive size, the Kozloduy statement says. It also says that all activities at the N-plant, including the medical services called for by the law, are performed in strict compliance with the rules. 

Before the N-plant put out its statement, the Anti-Corruption Fund (ACF) issued a statement to call on the executive and legislative authorities to thoroughly examine the circumstances that motivated the management of the Kozloduy N-plant to file the lawsuit against the former employee and her mother. According to the ACF experts, the lawsuit is unfounded and fully meets the definition of SLAPP: a proceeding with a formally legitimate purpose of protecting rights that in practice aims to intimidate and put financial and psychological pressure on journalists and civil activists.