Sanctions and blacklisting by the US, a wave of resignations, revisions over the spending of the GERB cabinet in the last decade and mismanagement of financial aids: all of these are making headlines in the Bulgarian media as the country prepares for early elections on July 11 - a result of the inconclusive ones from the spring and the inability of any party to form a coalition.
The elections on April 4, which saw an inconclusive win by PM Boyko Borissov’s ruling party GERB, provoked more twists and turns than many initially expected. Things are not looking better for Borisov and GERB: after facing, for a short while, a Parliament dominated by opposition forces, they now have to deal with the fact that the country is led by a caretaker cabinet chosen by President Rumen Radev, one of the most vocal opponents of Borisov’s 2017-2021 cabinet.
US vs. Bulgaria
On June the 2nd, the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced it has imposed sanctions on several Bulgarians for their alleged “extensive roles in corruption”. “The corrupt activities undertaken by the individuals designated today demonstrate how pervasive corruption goes hand-in-hand with other illicit activity”, the statement said. The blacklist, which bans those citizens from entering the US, have assets and holds the potential to severely limit their businesses, includes:
- Oligarch-in-exile, art dealer, former football and gambling boss Vassil Bojkov, aka The Skull, who fled the country to Dubai in January 2020 amid numerous charges and shortly after his highly profitable lottery business was nationalized. From Dubai, he initiated a party, Bulgarian Summer. After decades of being silent on his affairs and holding an enigmatic image, he became a vocal critic of Boyko Borissov’s politics. One of the interesting layers in the US Treasury’s Office report is that he’s also working for Russia’s presence and influence in Bulgarian politics.
- Media mogul and former MP from Movement for Rights and Freedoms party Delyan Peevski, one of the figures who is often a target of protests and citizen unrest. He’s also often based in Dubai and is associated with various businesses, including infrastructure, real estate companies, and tobacco trading.
- Former Deputy chief of the Bulgarian State Agency for Technical Operations (Bulgaria’s intelligence-gathering service), Ilko Zhelyazkov. Although not stated in the report, his presence on the list is possible to be because of a recent wiretapping scandal. According to Bulgaria’s caretaker Minister of Interior, Boyko Rashkov, who is exposing the wrongdoings of the previous cabinet, opposition parties were eavesdropped by the government. Borissov and other officials denied this.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms stood behind Peevski, announcing they’ll wait for solid evidence against him.
Despite the sanctions, on June the 8th Vassil Bojkov announced he’ll run for MP with his Bulgarian Summer party which had small-scale support in the spring elections but seemed to have gathered a substantial number of votes from abroad.
These are the most severe measures taken against Bulgarian individuals so far under the US’s Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
Caretaker ministers in action
Instead of silently governing until the next elections, the expert cabinet is rapidly changing the dynamics in local politics.
Black clouds are gathering around the Bulgarian Development Bank after caretaker Minister of Economy, Kiril Petkov, disclosed on May the 21st that in 2020 eight companies have received over 483 million euro in loans, four of them connected to above-mentioned oligarch Delyan Peevski. The Bulgarian Development Bank is under the supervision of the Ministry of Economy and has been associated with suspicious loans for years.
Articles on the bank's activity have resulted in repressions against journalists. For example, former Chairman Stoyan Mavrodiev is currently suing Capital Weekly journalist Nickolay Stoyanov over articles alleging Michael Tymvios, managing director of a Cyprus-based business consulting firm, had assisted Stoyan Mavrodiev in hiding his taxable assets while in public office. Mavrodiev answered with three criminal defamation suits against Stoyanov, who can face a fine of up to 15,000 leva ($9,300) for each charge. Mavrodiev is also seeking 40,000 leva ($25,000) in damages.
On June 2, The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Mavrodiev’s action against the journalist.
Another caretaker minister is also making waves. Artist and protest figure Venelin Minekov, Minister of Culture until July the 11th, openly clashed with the Director of Bulgarian National Television Emil Koushlukov on biased pro-government reporting and alleged that 4,5 million euro are missing from the spending in restoration work on a historical site in Sofia.
Meanwhile, on June the 3rd caretaker Minister of Healthcare Stoycho Katzarov, stated that illegal transplant operations have been taking place in state-owned hospital “Lozenets” in Sofia, with the knowledge of the previous minister. Doubts rise whether the hospital was making illegal operations to cover their 21 million leva loss in 2020.
Finally, on June the 8th, caretaker Minister of Interior Boyko Rashkov disclosed that not only opposition parties were eavesdropped with the knowing of the previous cabinet but also regular citizens who were part of the 2020 anti-government protest wave
Politics tensions result in more interest from voters
According to a research by polling agency Market Links, published on June 3, 63% of the Bulgarians will vote in the July 11 elections – more than the nearly 50% who voted in the last round. The spring elections also saw a record number of votes by Bulgarians living abroad, hinting an increased interest.
Amid all of these tensions, the elections will most probably offer more of the same – GERB’s long hold of power will continue to loosen but, at the same, the question whether the opposition will find a common ground, remains in place.
According to the cited research by Market Links, the results will be similar to those in the spring. Newcomers “There’s Such a Nation”, lead by one of the most popular celebrities - singer and TV host Slavi Trifonov (who shocked many of his voters by announcing on Monday he’ll not run for MP but will chase “another institutional position”) are expected to rival GERB for first place in politics. GERB are expected to reach 21 per cent support, while There’s Such a Nation will be behind with 17.6 per cent. Bulgarian Socialist Party, plagued by internal conflicts, stands at 17.1 per cent. Pro-EU alliance Democratic Bulgaria will continue its momentum with 11,8 per cent, getting ahead of the Turkish-minority focused party Movement for Rights and Freedoms, associated with numerous controversies through the decade.
