Bulgarian entrepreneur Veselin Mareshki has announced he is withdrawing his bid for this autumn's presidential elections.

In a message sent out to the media, Mareshki has said he will now focus on the next parliamentary elections in order to "destroy the fuels cartel" in the country and will launch his own political movement next week.

Earlier this year, Mareshki launched a referendum petition on whether there should be state regulation of fuel prices, and four other issues. Citizens are also asked whether a restriction for one person to own more than four pharmacies across the country should be removed to make the market more competitive and lower end prices. The petition was rejected by a parliamentary committee, but is yet to go to the floor.

The presidential institution "has been corrupted" by names of possible candidates such as "Vladimir Kuzov (former MP), Kristalina Georgieva (EU Commissioner)... Maya Manolova (former MP and ombudsman... Luna (singer)".

These show that parties do not take the presidential elections seriously, he has noted.

"The abovementioned are people who never said even a word against the fuels cartel or undertook action that would help people in the fight against it," he notes.

No major Bulgarian party has raised a nomination for the elections which will be held either at the end of October or early in November.

Mareshki, who also owns petrol stations, made headlines over the past months by offering fuels at prices that are considerably lower than those offered by competitors. At a time when the standard diesel price was nearly BGN 1.90 (EUR 0.95) per liter, his was around BGN 1.60.

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