Lobbying Blamed for Bulgaria Deputy Agri Minister Ousting

Bulgaria’s Deputy Agriculture Minister, Preslav Borisov, resigned amidst rumors of conflict of interests and family business lobbying. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria’s Deputy Agriculture Minister, Preslav Borisov, resigned Friday under pressure from Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, per Borisov’s own statements.

The Council of Ministers confirms the news about the resignation, but informs the resignation is yet to be accepted.

The Deputy Minister was appointed personally by the PM at the end of July before even the official cabinet, including Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, were announced. The PM now says he did not like his nominee’s work and there were also personal reasons for the resignation.

The Bulgarian daily “24 Chassa” (24 Hours), however, reports that the reasons for the ousting have been conflict of interests and improper lobbying. Minister Naydenov firmly denies the reports, saying his Deputy simply failed to fulfill his duties as expected.

The information about improprieties is based on anonymous email sent to most media outlets in Bulgaria on Thursday. According to the email, the Deputy Minister, Preslav Borisov, is the son of one of the country’s biggest grain producers, grain storage and land owners from the Dobrudzha area and brother of another large-scale farmer in the Vratsa Region. Borisov, allegedly, had prepared lobbyist bills banning the construction of wind farms in Dobrudzha with the goal to maintain low prices in the area and provide opportunities to his father to continue purchasing lands and banning grain trade for people who do not own grain storage facilities to, again, limit the above trade to the family business.

Rumors also connect Preslav Borisov to attempts to use the sale and rent of State lands to farmers, declared an anti-crisis measure by the cabinet of which the Deputy Minister was in charge, for family profits and lobbying for some particular businesses to obtain EU financing.

Others claim Borisov has been ousted over conflicts with Minister Naydenov.

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