The Bulgarian Entrepreneur Tzvetan Vassilev is No Longer Wanted by Interpol
The defendant Tsvetan Vasilev is no longer wanted by Interpol, the information was confirmed for BTA by Vasilev's lawyer Konstantin Simeonov
Lawmakers have voted to approved changes to the Bank Insolvency Act on a first reading which also allow for the publication of a report by UK-based consultancy AlixPartners on insolvent Corporate Commercial Bank (Corpbank/KTB), local media have reported.
Until now the text was only available in Parliament's secret registry, which was not accessible to the general public but only to lawmakers.
The act's Artile 12a (2.12) will read that: "The temporary trustee is obliged, regardless of confidentiality clauses in contracts, to publish the report on its webpage after receiving it from those contracted for this purpose."
Instructions on receivables collection offered in the report will not be disclosed to avoid disruption of the work of receivers.
An overwhelming majority of 124-0 (4 abstained) approved the changes.
KTB was declared insolvent after being placed under special supervision by the Bulgarian National Bank following a bank run in June 2014.
The issue of publishing the document has sparked much controversy since Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov demanded the publication in February.
The report was earlier classified as "strictly confidential", with AlixPartners warning against a move to make it public as it includes "a considerable amount of personal data on KTB customers and their accounts".
However, the consultancy firm had "reluctantly" agreed that MPs can have access to the report in the secret registry.
Some lawmakers dealing with economic and financial issues had also objected, with Menda Stoyanova, who heads the Budget and Finance Committee at Parliament, warning the move would send a message to investors that Bulgaria is again violating legal and economic principles.
The Bulgarian Deposit Insurance Fund (BDIF) has also objected to the amendments.
KTB receivers had contracted AlixPartners in June 2015 to track assets, which KTB had administered in violation of the law and good banking practices, and recommend recovery options. The report was submitted to the KTB receivers on 23 September 2015.
The Bank Insolvency Act amendments were submitted by several lawmakers from liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party, including Yordan Tsonev, former Finance Minister (2013-2014) Petar Chobanov, and Delyan Peevski, an alleged media mogul and former business partner to KTB majority owner Tsvetan Vasilev.
Media reports have repeatedly linked the collapse of KTB to the fallout between Peevski and Vasilev, with the latter describing the developments as looting of his bank aided by Bulgarian authorities.
Peevski, on the other hand, has long maintained together with Tsonev that legal changes should allow the revelation of "the entire truth" about Corpbank to the public.
Rules for cashing assets in filling up the insolvency mass will also be amended, in accordance with proposals submitted by other lawmakers. Only trustees and the BDIF will be made familiar with assets' value to ensure no information will be leaked out and auctions will go smoothly.
We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!
In April, inflation across the European Union remained steady, with both the EU and the Eurozone recording a rate of 2.6% and 2.4%, respectively, according to data from Eurostat, the official statistics agency of the EU
Julian Voinov, an economist and financial expert, expressed optimism regarding Bulgaria's potential adoption of the euro in 2025 or early 2026
This was stated by the Governor of the Bulgarian National Bank at the international conference "Bulgaria in the Eurozone, When?" in Sofia
Former Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov has suggested that Bulgaria's potential entry into the Eurozone may not materialize before 2026
In the initial quarter of 2024, Bulgaria's economy expanded by 0.4%, as per an expedited evaluation by the National Statistical Institute (NSI), a slight deceleration from the 0.5% growth witnessed in the final quarter of the preceding year
According to Levon Hampartzoumian, the likelihood of Bulgaria joining the Eurozone in 2025 is very slim, as no country has ever entered during the middle of the year
Sofia Airport's Terminal 3 Construction Set to Begin in Early 2026
COVID-19 Impact: Bulgaria's Grim Milestone as Highest Death Rate in EU