site.btaCC-DB MP: Gas Deal with Turkish Energy Giant Was Signed under Political Pressure

Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) MP Radoslav Ribarski told reporters in Parliament here on Thursday that while a year ago, the CEO of Bulgargaz was telling the parliamentary ad hoc committee on the BOTAS contract that there was no political pressure exerted on the case, on Thursday Parliament got an admission that the contract was approved at a political level. Ribarski's comment came after a hearing of former caretaker energy minister Rossen Hristov, former Bulgargaz CEO Deniza Slateva, current Bulgartransgaz CEO Vladimir Malinov, and Minister of Energy Zhecho Stankov that took place in Parliament earlier Thursday.

Ribarski said that an opinion was requested, but the contract was not sent to the relevant ministries, which also never saw its clauses, yet the caretaker cabinet eventually approved the agreement. The only ministry that got to see the text was the Ministry of Energy. The MP told the media that the agreement was signed at ministerial level first, at which point it was sent to Bulgargaz. Even though the conditions proposed by the State-owned gas supplier were rejected, it did sign the contract, since the Council of Ministers had issued a decision on the matter.

Ribarski clarified that the decision of the Council of Ministers was taken without anyone having actually reviewed the contract and added: "So a caretaker cabinet obliged Bulgaria with [BGN] 4 billion for 12 years without anyone having seen the contract or being able to take a position on it." Asked about Velichie's support for the agreement, the MP said that anyone who supports it must be unaware of the damage that Bulgaria suffers every day as a result.

Commenting on President Rumen Radev's possible role in the matter, Ribarski shared: "We tried to find out what exactly the role of President Rumen Radev was during these meetings with [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, we tried to find out what was discussed at these meetings, how they went, but we only found documents that were signed by Rossen Hristov and by Bulgargaz."