Prosecutor General Tasks National Security Agency to Probe Entire Privatization Period

Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev has tasked the State Agency for National Security (SANS) to carry out a comprehensive probe of the entire process of privatization in Bulgaria and of post-privatization control, the prosecution said on Wednesday.

The check will span all privatization deals, the type of payments and post-privatization oversight. SANS has to establish whether contractual penalties, interest, compensation and bank guarantees have been recovered in full. The agency also has to establish whether steps have been taken to cancel any privatization deals where the contracts have not been implemented.

The probe has to check post-privatization control records, post-privatization oversight public registers information. The probe will review reports by the National Audit Office and the measures taken in response to the recommendations.

The parliamentary parties supported the actions of the Prosecutor General. In statements to journalists in Parliament MPs of GERB, United Patriots, the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms hailed the initiative and expressed hope that it is not just a publicity stunt.

GERB deputy floor leader Krassimir Velchev said: "I am convinced that what the Prosecutor General is doing  is right." He said that such a probe is belated.

National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria leader Valeri Simeonov praised the actions of the prosecution.

Socialist opposition leader Kornelia Ninova also congratulated the Prosecutor General for the initiative. "I hope that the truth about the transition period will come to light, the check will be comprehensive and people will be held to account."

MRF leader Mustafa Karadayi said that the public wants to know all about the privatization.

The process of privatization in Bulgaria began in the 1990s with the fall of communism  during the so-called transition to democracy. This will be the first comprehensive privatization review despite repeated calls over the years.

Source: BTA