Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Probes 2 SAPARD Fund Appointments

Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov (center), says it is impossible to probe the appointments of all employees at the SAPARD agency. Photo by BGNES

Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, had ordered a probe of two appointments at the State Fund "Agriculture," the agency dealing with payments from the EU SAPARD program.

Naydenov told reporters Wednesday, he had ordered the check after an alert from the opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

On Tuesday, the leader of the BSP youth organization, Yavor Gechev, declared at a press conference two employees of the Fund have been hired without the required credentials.

Nayden Naydenov has been appointed at the post of Head of the Regional Payment Agency in the second largest city of Plovdiv with a Bachelor's Degree while the post requires a Master's while Gotse Petkov, who has a high school diploma, has been hired as expert at the Regional Directorate in Blagoevgrad, while the position requires a Bachelor's Degree, Gechev informed.

The Minister said Wednesday, the first individual has been appointed during the term of the previous, Socialist-led Three-Way Coalition cabinet and the second – by the notorious, ex-CEO of the Fund, Kalina Ilieva.

The results of the probe are expected later Wednesday.

When asked if the probe would involve other people, the Minister replied the Fund has 1 800 employees and an investigation into all hiring would force the agency to close doors.

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