Bulgaria PM to Crack Down on Perpetrators of 'Hidden Contracts'

Bulgarian PM Borisov said the officials who are responsible for the 'hidden contracts' made by the former government are already known. Photo by BGNES

The names of the top officials responsible for the making of the “hidden” state contracts that led to a doubling of Bulgaria’s 2009 state deficit are already known, Prime Minister Borisov announced.

Borisov said that a number of key officials in various Ministries during the term of his predecessor Sergey Stanishev had pushed their institutions to make contracts and annexes for public procurement projects with private companies even though it was clear at the time that the state did not have the necessary funds to pay for the respective services.

Last week Borisov and his Deputy, Finance Minister Djankov announced they had been surprised to discover in “ministerial drawers” “hidden contracts” made at the end of the term of the former government under which the state owned a total of BGN 2.16 B to private providers. This led the Bulgarian 2009 budget deficit to double from 1.9% to 3.7% causing Bulgaria to go beyond the 3% limit which is one of the criteria for joining the Eurozone.

“There are such people in the Environment Ministry, the Regional Development Ministry, the Health Ministry, and the Labor Ministry,” Borisov said Wednesday night at the Council of Ministers, as cited by BTA.

His team had conversations earlier during the day with experts from the various ministries who signed the “hidden” contracts and annexes.

“The officials who have been forced by their superiors to sign such contracts will not be charged but will be summoned as witnesses,” Borisov said while also explaining that all cases have already been referred to the investigating authorities and the prosecutors are working on them.

The Prime Minister confirmed that many of those who are believed responsible for pushing the secret deals are still working for their respective ministries.

“Some of the hidden contracts have been executed and have to be paid for. Others have been drafted in such a crazy way that the former government made advance payments of about one-tenth or one-twentieth, and left the rest for us to pay. They just wanted to break the ground of the respective project before their term ended,” Borisov explained.

He pointed to cases such as the pharmacy institute in Varna where the former government paid BGN 900 000 in advance, and the current government is now obliged to pay to the providers additional BGN 10 M, or the Medical Academy where the former Cabinet paid BGN 2 M, and left a debt of BGN 40 M for the state.

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