BULGARIA’S FORMER FINANCE MINISTER SIMEON DJANKOV CHARGED IN THE CASE FOR SALE OF STATE-OWNED STAKE IN EVN

Bulgaria’s Prosecutor’s Office pressed charges against the former Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov in the case for the sale of state-owned shares in EVN electricity distribution company.

The former finance minister has been accused of malfeasance in office in relation to the privatization of state-owned property, the prosecution said on 13th of January.

Simeon Djankov arrived at 10.00 a.m. in the investigation office in Sofia together with his lawyer Marin Markovski. He entered the building through the back door and did not appear for the TV cameras. Djankov left an hour later, with the indictment and again made no comment.

Last week, Sofia city prosecutor’s office pressed charges against the former economy, energy and tourism minister Traicho Traikov and businessman Ivo Prokopiev in the same pre-trial proceeding.

Traicho Traikov was accused of deliberate mismanagement causing damages to the state worth more than 20 million BGN as a result of the sale.

According to the prosecution, the former finance minister is alleged in exceeding his authority by ordering the Head of the Privatisation Agency to assign the assessment of the EVN assets directly to the investment intermediary “Bulbrokers” linked to the businessman Ivo Prokopiev, instead of choosing an independent assessor as the law required. Thus, with the help of the investment intermediary, the state-owned stake in EVN was sold at a lower share value, the prosecutor’s office explained.

The damage is worth more than 20,829,000 BGN and the act was committed in order to secure benefit for the investment intermediary which received 1,276,000 BGN as a result of the agreement, the spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office, Roumyana Arnaudova added.

The businessman Ivo Prokopiev is referred to as an instigator.