Former Bulgarian Interior Minister Warns of Heavy Losses from Smuggling

Former Bulgarian Interior Minister and current socialist MP Rumen Petkov has urged ruling party GERB to take steps to curb rampant fuel and cigarette smuggling. Photo by BGNES

Cigarette and fuel smuggling will have drained over BGN 2.5 B from the state coffers by the end of 2011, according to socialist MP and former Interior Minister Rumen Petkov.

In a Thursday statement, he also declared Bulgaria's finance and interior ministries "ministries of smuggling".

Petkov's party fellow, Dimitar Gorov revealed statistics showing that fuel excise duty revenues stood at BGN 984 M for the first seven months of the year, compared to over BGN 1.13 B for the same period in 2009.

Tobacco excise revenues for the period January-July 2011 amounted to BGN 920 M, compared to BGN 1.4 B in 2009, when the excise rates were lower.

Gorov said he was well aware of where excise receipts went, illustrating his point with a tax inspection certificate issued to Insa Oil, a Bulgarian producer and distributor of petroleum products, at the initial value of BGN 12 M, which had been reduced by over BGN 11 M to the sum of BGN 700 000 following an appeal lodged by the company's management before Customs Agency head Vanyo Tanov.

Insa Oil was found to have committed tax fraud by importing motor fuel documented as heavy fuel.

Heavy fuel is levied with BGN 30 per 1000 liters, while motor fuel subject to excise duty at the rate of BGN 600 per 1000 liters.

Gorov warned that if one company was given such treatment, it was easy to guess what was going on in the country and what losses excise goods incurred to to the budget

If no measures were taken at the highest level, Petkov threatened, this would signal that ruling center-right party was directly involved in smuggling schemes.

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