site.btaReallocation Underway at State Intelligence Agency, Not Linked to Funds from Vacant Positions, Chair Gechev Says

A redistribution of resources is underway at the State Intelligence Agency (SIA), but it is not related to funds that had been allocated but remained unused due to vacant positions, SIA Chair Antoan Gechev said on Thursday.

He was speaking before the parliamentary Committee for Oversight of the Security Services, the Application and Use of Special Intelligence Means, and Access to Data under the Electronic Communications Act, in response to a question from Democratic Bulgaria (DB) MP Atanas Atanasov about the redistribution of additional financial incentives for SIA employees.

The committee was presented with SIA’s annual activity report for 2025. The report was approved with five votes in favour, none against, and four abstentions.

Atanasov raised a question concerning a survey by French magazine L’Express, in which 60 former and current heads of intelligence services from EU and NATO member states gave the Bulgarian SIA a zero rating.

"As far as I understand, the methodology used was: "Name and rank your top five intelligence services in Europe"," Gechev replied. Obviously, no one placed the Bulgarian services among the top five, but that does not mean they were not ranked sixth, seventh or eighth, he added.