Bulgaria Customs Boss: Conversation with PM Total Fake

Bulgaria's Customs Agency director Vanyo Tanov speaking to journalists on his way out of the National Investigative Service Thursday. Photo by BGNES

The recently leaked phone conversation between Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov and head of the Customs Agency Vanyo Tanov is completely fake, according to the latter.

Thursday Tanov was questioned by the National Investigative service regarding the alleged conversation, in which PM Borisov apparently orders Tanov to suspend an ongoing customs check at a brewery.

"The record that has been published is a total fake," stated Tanov, adding "I've had many conversations with PM Borisov, but none like that one."

Nevertheless, Tanov reconfirmed that since May 2010 he has received sufficient evidence to believe that he has been put under surveillance and that his phone is  tapped.

Just Wednesday the Prosecutor's Office also stated that the tapes are not authentic, based on an analysis by the National Institute of Forensic Science, which found many irregularities in the records that clearly suggest the conversation has been greatly edited and modified.

The Tanov-Borisov conversation, released by contorversial Galeria weekly last Friday, is the most high-profile in a string of alleged records of talks between senior Bulgarian statesmen, recorded for some reason by special surveillance devices and then leaked to the paper.

In the conversation, PM Borisov wants customs director Tanov to withdraw a check for irregularities at the Ledenika brewery owned by Mihail Mihov.

"I made the commitment to not touch Mihov," Borisov can be heard saying. After that the Bulgarian PM repeatedly insists that a reluctant Tanov recall his men from the brewery.

The alleged conversation provoked a whirlwind of reactions from other political parties who announced they will initiate a no-confidence vote for Borisov's GERB cabinet.

Borisov reacted preemptively and initiated a vote of confidence that is still ongoing Thursday afternoon.

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