site.btaCommercial Register Fully Restored, Industrial Association Criticizes State's Reaction

The Registry Agency said Monday that the operation of the Commercial Register has been fully restored after a disruption which lasted over two weeks.

The Commercial Register and the register of non-government organizations were shut down by a glitch on August 10 and remained inoperable for several days before their functions were gradually restored.

The situation caused a crisis which was promptly used by the opposition to slam the power-holders and demand the resignation of the Justice Minister, who is in charge of the Registry Agency.

The crisis caused one resignation: of Registry Agency Executive Director Zornitsa Daskalova.

The Registry Agency said Monday that all functionalities of the Commercial Register are back to normal and will be accessible on-line beginning at 16:00 hrs.

The Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) issued on Monday a critical statement regarding the Register's crash, questioning whether the State has managed to guarantee the data's full restoration and confidentiality.

According to BIA's position, the State must find out what caused the crash and offer adequate measures for guaranteeing the safe and reliable functioning of the State information databases.

"We note, with satisfaction, that the long-awaited restoration of the Commercial Register is now a fact. Also a fact are the numerous unanswered questions," the position reads.

According to BIA it is still not clear whether all the information contained in the Register has been restored and whether its confidentiality has been guaranteed.

BIA criticizes the State for reacting to the crisis in an unconvincing and palliative manner. The public discussion, including in Parliament, focused on finding someone to blame and not on establishing the cause of the problem, the position reads. BIA also believes that it is much more important how the State will guarantee that there won't be any more such crashes in the future, and that the public systems and registers are reliably protected.

What happened with the Commercial Register goes far beyond the explanation about a technical problem, for which users get an apology for any caused inconvenience. What happened with the Commercial Register casts doubt over the overall functioning of the State information systems, the creation of the e-government and guaranteeing information security, including companies' and citizens', the position reads.

BIA expect a clear and honest explanation for the causes behind the Commercial Register's crash, determining the persons at fault and holding them responsible, a clear formulation and enforcement of adequate measures for guaranteeing the safe and reliable work of State information databases.