site.btaVazrazhdane Deputy Chair Ganev Alleges Deliberate Push Toward BDZ Bankruptcy

Parliament Deputy Chair and Deputy Chairperson of the Vazrazhdane party Tsoncho Ganev argued here Thursday that the Bulgarian State Railways (BDZ) is being deliberately driven into bankruptcy, adding that he personally witnessed this. He was talking to journalists in Parliament after returning from a working visit to China.

Ganev said what happened there was “an insult to Bulgaria”. He explained that he had received an invitation from the Chinese side after, a day before the visit, Transport Minister Grozdan Karadjov declined to attend a meeting with his Chinese counterpart in Xi’an, saying he had “a budget to adopt at first reading”. Ganev added that Atanas Zafirov had also been invited to attend in his capacity as Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister, but likewise refused.

Ganev said that everything possible is being done deliberately to prevent Bulgaria from receiving investments, with the aim of liquidating BDZ and driving all infrastructure-related enterprises into bankruptcy, after which they would be sold off and dismantled.

Ganev said that upon arriving in China, between his first and second flight, he discovered that the heads of the BDZ holding company, the railway infrastructure and the ports authority were also present there. He stated that the Ministry of Transport had prohibited them from taking part in working meetings with Chinese senior officials. He added that the Bulgarian Ambassador was struggling to explain both the absence of the deputy prime ministers and the boycott of the arriving Bulgarian representatives.

He further stated that during a meeting with a Chinese deputy prime minister and Bulgarian representatives, the head of the BDZ holding company told the Chinese side that it would be better for them to turn to the private sector for the transit of Chinese freight trains through Bulgaria.

Ganev said "Bulgaria had once again been discriminated against and crushed” in front of foreign partners, “simply because they had decided to destroy BDZ”.

Ganev called for the resignation of  Karadjov, the heads of the BDZ holding company, the railway infrastructure and the ports authority, as well as the resignation of the entire government.