Bulgarian Ministry Confirms Receipt of Ex Secret Agent's Letter

The Bulgarian Ministry of Finance has confirmed in a statement to the media that it has received a letter from Aleksei Petrov and two other signatories. Photo by BGNES

The existence of a letter that Aleksei Petrov had claimed he sent to Bulgarian Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, has been confirmed.

The Ministry has confirmed on Friday in a statement to the media that they did, in fact, receive the letter, dated December 22, 2009. The UPEE has stated that it has not yet received a reply to the letter, although the time limit for a response has expired.

Petrov, who has been detained behind bars as an alleged member of the "Octopus" group and on a wide range of criminal charges, had repeatedly maintained he had sent a letter to the Ministry, in which he had elaborated a specific model to lower interest rates, and which had led directly to his arrest.

It now transpires that the letter was sent by Teodor Dechev, Vice Chair of the "Union for Private Economic Enterprise" (UPEE), and was signed by three persons – Dechev himself, Petrov and Adnan Lidiyanov, all on behalf of UPEE. It was addressed directly to the Finance Minister.

On Thursday, ex secret agent Aleksei Petrov had said that the attack against him was in connection with his expressed positions on economic policy in the country.

"In my disagreement on economic policy, I indicated the high level of interest, which is seven - eight percent higher than those in the European Uni... I wrote an official document to Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov, in which I indicated a specific model for lowering interest," said Petrov.

The letter sets out broad proposals that would benefit small and medium enterprises (SMEs), according to its authors. it states that SMEs are the economic backbone of Bulgaria in particular, as well as other European countries.

It suggests that the Bulgarian state should take "unconventional measures" to support the sector financially, and notes that much government money is at present supporting the corporate business sector.

"In Bulgaria, the state still remains a major partner to businesses and banks. This means that the state can afford, not through the implementation of administrative mechanisms, but through market mechanisms to take measures to influence banking institutions in order to reduce high interest rates on loans to SMEs," the authors wrote.

The letter continues with a list of benefits to the SME sector that UPEE urges the Finance Ministry to consider, and makes five specific recommendations for a mechanism on how to set up and administer a re-allocation of available finance by, for example, lowering interest rates imposed on SMEs.

The letter ends by stating that the suggested model, even after considering the element of risk, does not have any negative effect on state organizations.

"The proposed model does not create a negative effects on activities of state organizations and does not imply a reduction of their interest incomes. Moreover, it minimizes the risk of losses arising from possible adverse events in the banking sector, while providing effective access to the much needed financial resources for SMEs at attractive interest rates," the letter concludes.

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