site.btaMedia Review: February 15

SOFIA REGIONAL PROSECUTION OFFICE RESIGNATIONS, MARTIN BOZHANOV

The Wednesday resignations of Sofia Regional Prosecution Office Administrative Head Nevena Zartova, Deputy Administrative Heads Borislav Georgiev, Ivan Stefanov, Mima Kutskova-Damyanova and Todor Kuyumdzhiev and suspicions that magistrates had used their influence to serve the interests of the late Martin "the Notary" Bozhanov dominated the media on Thursday.

Martin Bozhanov was killed in Sofia on January 31. The prosecution service entered a private club "SS" in the capital's Geo Milev borough, associated with Bozhanov. The prosecution service is checking whether magistrates were members of the club, whether and why they went there. Currently, pre-trial proceedings are ongoing for an organized criminal group, of which Bozhanov was part, established for the purpose of exerting pressure on magistrates, for property fraud and money laundering.

24 Chasa's front page story highlights that the resignations in the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office came in the same day in which the daily published an interview with representative of the Greek entrepreneur and Danaos Corporation President John Coustas. He said that Coustas had been racketeered for 2 years by Bozhanov. The Greek entrepreneur is a partner in IKEA, in Sofia Ring Mall, and in two large investment projects for the construction of residential buildings.  In an attempt to have one of the projects taken away, the Regional Prosecution Office organized a total of 11 lawsuits and investigations against his company Danaos Corporation, Coustas’ representative argued. The Greek investors believe that Bozhanov and lawyer Velimir Atanasov had serious influence on the Regional Prosecution Office to put pressure against them. The media outlet adds that magistrates from the Sofia City Prosecution Office have asked to contact the Greek investor quoted in the newspaper interview so that he can be brought in as a witness in an investigation against Bozhanov. Zartova told 24 Chasa that her resignation was unrelated to the interview in question, that she had never been to Bozhanov's club and did not even know where it was located.

24 Chasa also states that it has a list of 11 names who had club cards and chips for Bozhanov's establishment. It includes four judges, two prosecutors from the Supreme Prosecution Office, two from the Sofia City Prosecution Office, one from the Pernik Prosecution Office, one from the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office and one investigator. "We asked the magistrates listed if they knew Martin Bozhanov and if they had visited his club. They all categorically denied it. Therefore, until the official release of names of judges, prosecutors, investigators and police officers for whom there is evidence that they have been protecting Bojanov’s interests, we do not dare to mention specific names," the daily notes.

On bTV's morning show, Zartova said she had met Bozhanov in his capacity as a complainant who wished to be interviewed. "He told me about a grand criminal scheme against him and his relatives," she explained. "My main motive for resigning is the tension that has built up in the Sofia Regional Prosecution Office since last summer. It is expressed in the presence of endless inspections which strain the work of both colleagues and the administration. I prefer to step down so colleagues can work in a more relaxed environment," Zartova added.

On Bulgarian National Television's (BNT) morning show, Greek businessman Ioakeim Kalamaris described Zartova as one of the magistrates who put pressure on him. He also said that the racketeering against him had continued until very recently. The pressure was expressed in blackmail. Kalamaris described lawyer Velimir Atanasov as the "brain" of the influence peddling group around the Bozhanov and pointed to a specific Deputy Regional Prosecutor - Borislav Georgiev - whom he held responsible for abusing his power after triggering harsh pre-trial detention measures against him and his partners.

On Nova Television's morning show, Supreme Judicial Council member Atanaska Disheva said she does not believe the system will clean itself up after this scandal. "Extraordinary measures should be taken at the legislative level. A lot can be done in the parliamentary committee," she added. Dishewa argued that such influence peddling cannot happen without the knowledge of the Prosecutor General. "One prosecutor cannot take a case from another without the intervention of an administrative head. The Prosecutor General cannot be unaware of what is going on. If he is, he does not belong at the position," she explained.

Trud also covers the story.

ECONOMY

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR), former deputy finance minister Georgi Kadiev argued that there is pressure from the US government through the Bulgarian government for Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil to be withdrawn from Bulgaria. "The fact is that in other countries they sold [their assets] - [Lukoil's] refinery in Sicily was the fifth largest in Europe," he noted. It was sold to Cypriot private equity firm G.O.I. Energy in May 2023. “At the moment, we do not know of any interest and whether the prospective buyers will turn out to be Russians disguised as Arabs," Kadiev said.

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On bTV's morning show, Labour and Social Policy Minister Ivanka Shalapatova expressed belief that the euro's introduction to cause any shocks in Bulgarians' incomes and pension. "It will not affect the purchasing power. Out of 27 European Union Member States, 20 are already part of the eurozone. If there was no benefit, would they have the ambition to be part of this family," she asked and recalled that Croatia did not register a drop in income upon entering the euro zone. Commenting on whether she was worried about her post in the upcoming cabinet rotation, Shalapatova argued that at this stage there was no indication that she had not coped with the tasks she faced.

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24 Chasa features an article on the delay in regularization of already constructed parts of major infrastructure projects such as highways, dams, etc., which have been started without construction permits. In an official statement, the Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) coalition says that this was done at its request, although they supported the amendments that settle this issue at committee level at the end of December. The motive is that the establishment of the Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) has been delayed. CC-DB deputy floor leader Nastimir Ananiev commented on the decision, quoted by the daily: "It is true that we supported these amendments, but they also allow the regularization of municipal constructions, and for these the Prosecution Office or the ACC must first state whether a crime has been committed. We do not trust the Prosecution Office to refer itself for each case, so we have to wait for the new committee to start working," he explained. On this regularization depends, for example, the continuation of the construction of the Hemus Motorway, part of which was built without papers, the media outlet points out.

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Trud has an interview with Bulgarian Chamber of Private Enforcement Agents Chair Georgi Dichev. He expressed concern that the adoption of the Personal Insolvency Act will be accompanied by a number of problems. "The experience of other countries shows that we can expect tens of thousands of applications immediately after its adoption, while in our country indeed many citizens need this mechanism," he noted. The wave of applications on the new cases would virtually block the country's district courts, and they hear serious cases as the first instance, the lawyer warned. He pointed out that the entire judicial administration, which people rely on for the rule of law and the protection of their rights, would suffer as a result.

DISINFORMATION

In an interview with BNR, CC-DB MP Bozhidar Bozhanov commented the disinformation prevention bill. CC-DB MPs propose a number of measures aimed at "troll farms" and monitoring anonymous fake news sites. The amendments are set out in the Electronic Communications Act. “We will not impose censorship, news content will not be blocked,” Bozhanov assured. He stressed that the texts have been uploaded to be discussed, but the bill has not yet been tabled. The texts will be discussed in detail with MPs from both the ruling and opposition parties so that everyone can be convinced that there is no censorship, the CC-DB MP explained.

HEALTH

On BNT's morning show, the former head of the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Todor Kantardzhiev, said that the flu wave in the country has already passed and cases will decrease every week. "There is still a trend of maintaining the number of cases in children under 4 years of age. But within weeks the flu will sharply decrease," he assured.