New Bulgaria Govt Gives Scandalous Forestry Agency Head the Axe

Scandalous Forestry Agency head Stefan Yurukov was sacked on Wednesday. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's new government of PM Borisov and the GERB party removed from office Wednesday the scandalous director of the Bulgarian State Forestry Agency, Stefan Yurukov.

Yurukov became notorious for sealing swap deals with state-owned lands that appeared to be to the detriment of the Bulgarian state.

In just 10 days before the Forests Act came into force on January 26, 2009, Yurukov approved 47 land swap deals in which state-owned land at top resort locations around Bulgaria were valued at BGN 0,24 - BGN 27 per square meter; at the same time, their market value was about EUR 100 per square meter.

The Borisov government replaced Yurukov with Georgi Kostov, who is a department head at the Forestry University in Sofia.

According to the new cabinet, the change is aimed at establishing a transparent management of the forestry sector, which is publicly known for being one of the most corrupt sectors during the terms of the last two governments.

On Wednesday, the new cabinet also discharged the Chair of State Agency for Child Protection, Shirin Mestan, the wife of the Deputy Chair of the DPS party Lyutvi Mestan, at her own request.

The government decided to appoint Finance Minister Simeon Djankov as the Chair of the National Council for three-partite cooperation which includes representatives of the government, the employers, and the trade unions.

 

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