Bulgarian Officials, EU Justice Commissioner Discuss Country's Political Crisis

Politics » BULGARIA IN EU | May 14, 2007, Monday // 00:00

Bulgaria's chief prosecutor and interior minister will meet Monday the EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini in Brussels, where they will discuss the political crisis in the country over the recent money draining scandal.

Prosecutor Boris Velchev and Minister Rumen Petkov expect to find out if the European Commission will grant Bulgaria's request for sending a judiciary expert for the scandal with the Bulgarian chief investigator and the economy minister.

The two Bulgarian officials sent a letter to the Commission asking for experts to observe Prosecutor's Office work on the scandal. The experts will also examine the documents and work on the Sofia heating utility case for money draining.

The scandal involves country's chief investigator Anguel Alexandrov, the Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharov and several other deputy ministers and key investigators.

Alexandrov was accused of demanding money from the CEO of the country's tobacco monopoly Bulgartabac for the use of the institution he heads.

Alexandrov wanted to get information for Deputy Energy Minister Kornelia Ninova, who represents the ministry in the state reserve and Bulgartabac.

The head of the investigations service said the attacks against him come from Minister Ovcharov. Later, Alexandrov even accused the minister of threatening him.

Ovcharov's two middlemen pressured Alexandrov to stop poking around certain cases that may lead to the Minister. The investigator claims that at some point the investigation reached a level at which national security was concerned. From February 19th on, he only shared information on the case directly and personally to Chief Prosecutor Boris Velchev. Alexandrov claimed that in one of the instances, the info he told Velchev had reached Ovcharov just an hour later.

Frattini, Petkov and Velchev wil also debate over the forthcoming report to be issued by the European Commission, which covers Bulgaria's progress in different spheres.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!

Bulgaria in EU » Be a reporter: Write and send your article

Advertisement
Advertisement
Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily online newspaper "Sofia Morning News." Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) and Sofia Morning News publish the latest economic, political and cultural news that take place in Bulgaria. Foreign media analysis on Bulgaria and World News in Brief are also part of the web site and the online newspaper. News Bulgaria