site.btaDemocratic Bulgaria Asks OFAC, SANS and Prosecutors about Published OFAC Document

Democratic Bulgaria (DB) has sent an inquiry to the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) following the publication by the BIRD investigative website of what it described as an OFAC court filing concerning businessman Vassil Bojkov, the coalition's press office said on Tuesday.

According to DB, the published document states that Bojkov admitted making payments to former prime minister Boyko Borissov and former finance minister Vladislav Goranov in exchange for favourable treatment of his business interests, and that the conduct was treated as bribery for the applicable sanctions regime.

DB said it had asked OFAC whether, based on the information contained in the published document, it considers those allegations established for its sanctions proceedings. The coalition also requested clarification on why Goranov was sanctioned under the Global Magnitsky Act, while no comparable public measure has been announced against Borissov.

DB said it had also sent inquiries to acting Prosecutor General Vanya Stefanova and the State Agency for National Security (SANS), asking whether they would examine the newly published information, review previous actions taken on related reports and seek relevant documents from OFAC, the US Department of Justice and other US authorities through international legal cooperation.

On Monday, following BIRD's publication of the document, Ivaylo Mirchev MP of Democratic Bulgaria called on GERB leader Boyko Borissov to respond to the allegations or withdraw from politics.