Bulgaria Scandalous NMSP Deputy Minister Free on Bail

Bulgaria'sDeputy Minister of Emergency Situations, Alexandar Filipov, is charged with abuse of power and vote buying. Photo by BGNES

The Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations, Alexandar Filipov, walked out of jail Thursday on BGN 10 000 bond.

The magistrates cite as reason for Filipov's release his ailing health condition.

The Deputy Minister from the National Movement for Stability and Progress is charged with abuse of power. The Prosecutor is expected to request Thursday that Filipov is dismissed from his Deputy Minister post despite the upcoming full change of the Cabinet in the aftermath of the July 5 general elections.

Just two days ago the Sofia City Prosecutor, Nikolay Kokinov,confirmed information that Filipov has been involved in vote buying through the use of State funds. The Deputy Minister, allegedly, arranged for companies belonging of big Roma clans to win large public tenders in exchange for using part of the profits to buy and guarantee votes.

The authorities uncovered Filipov's involvement during the investigation of a huge scheme to buy votes in the city of Sliven, conducted by the State Agency for National Security and the Prosecutor's Office. Kokinov added they found out many other "interesting" things that were yet to be analyzed.

The second charge against Filipov deals with lobbing - connecting businesses to people in charge of deciding the winning bids in public tenders. The scheme involved orders for equipment and services through several Ministries and has been in place for quite a while, according to the Prosecutor.

The other person arrested in the case is Vasko Stoyanov,the person allegedly directly dealing with the voters and then reporting to Filipov. The price for one vote is said to have been BGN 50.

 

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