Bulgaria’s Prosecutor-General orders probe into post-communist privatisations

Bulgaria’s Prosecutor-General Ivan Geshev has instructed the State Agency for National Security (SANS) to carry out a full review of the entire privatisation process during the country’s transition from communism to democracy, according to a February 12 statement by the prosecutors office.

The investigation also has to cover subsequent control by the ministries, agencies and other state institutions responsible for this, the statement said.

The investigation should include all privatisation transactions, payments made on them, regardless of the type of means of payment, as well as all actions taken to carry out post-privatisation supervision.

SANS should determine whether the penalties, interest, indemnities and bank guarantees provided for in the privatisation contracts have been collected in the event of partial or total default.

In this regard, it should be established whether the privatisation contracts have been cancelled where there were cases of non-performance.

The investigators should determine how all the documentation on the current post-privatisation control was kept, whether the checks on the implementation of the privatisation contracts were carried out and whether the information in the public registers was updated in a timely manner.

The scope of the audit should analyse the audit reports by the National Audit Office and what action has been taken to comply with the instructions given, the statement said.

(Photo: Bulgaria’s Interior Ministry)

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