site.btaCaretaker PM Says Cabinet's Main Task Is to Ensure Fair Elections

Caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov Friday said that the main goal of the caretaker Cabinet is to ensure fair elections. He noted that this requires working with regional governors who were not involved in organizing "the unfairest elections in Bulgaria's recent history" as well as having "an Interior Ministry Secretary General capable of at least reading fluently - a good prerequisite for conducting fair elections." He made the remarks during a news briefing at the Council of Ministers. 

The caretaker government recently replaced the regional governors. At a meeting with the new appointees on Thursday, Gurov stressed that he expects from them impartiality, a good organization, and timely measures to ensure fair and transparent elections.

“We must protect the interests of the country,” Gurov said, commenting on the potential arbitration case against Bulgaria by the Swiss company Litasco SA. This is yet another case inherited by the caretaker administration, he added. “We are carefully reviewing the issue. Yesterday, we held a meeting to outline the next steps, and what we need to do is to ensure the country’s interests are protected. We will gather information and proposals so that we can present solutions,” he added.

Litasco SA, a member of the Lukoil Group and a shareholder in its Bulgarian subsidiaries Lukoil Neftohim Burgas AD and Lukoil Bulgaria EOOD, said that on February 19 it sent a notice of dispute to Bulgarian authorities, declaring its intention to pursue all legal remedies, including arbitration before the International Court of Arbitration for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

The company said that measures taken by Bulgaria against the subsidiaries operating on its territory constitute a breach of the country’s obligations under the investment agreement and the Energy Charter Treaty, specifically citing what it describes as the illegal expropriation of Litasco’s investments without compensation.