site.btaYes, Bulgaria Party Calls for Explicit Ban on Misleading NGO Names amid Mystery Deaths Investigation

The Yes, Bulgaria party is introducing amendments to the Non-Profit Legal Entities Act and the Commerce Act “so that the prohibition on using names resembling those of administrative bodies and state authorities is clearly regulated,” the party wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. The move is related to the Petrohan mystery deaths case.

Also on Tuesday, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev asked the Registry Agency to review the registration of an entity called National Protected Areas Control Agency (NPACA), which is apparently linked to the six violent deaths in the Petrohan case. The review should also cover other associations, foundations, and commercial companies whose names could create the impression that their activities relate to the functions of a state authority.

Yes, Bulgaria, said one of the questions in this case is why an NGO termed a “National Agency” was allowed to be registered. The answer is that it should not have been, but unfortunately the law permits it, as evidenced by nearly 60 registered “national agencies” and “Bulgarian agencies,” along with hundreds of other registered “agencies,” both as non-profit legal entities and as commercial companies, the party added.

Most NGOs with similar names were registered by the courts before this function was transferred to the Registry Agency. Such companies and organizations have been repeatedly registered, regardless of who the justice minister was, which shows that this is not the result of political pressure, the party noted.

On Monday, the Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria parliamentary group said they will propose the National Assembly to ask the State Agency for National Security and the Prosecution Service to provide information about the activities of NPACA.