Bulgaria Finance Minister Cleared over Classified Info Leak

Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Simeon Djankov persistently declined comment on the possibility of charges being raised against him. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgaria's prosecutor's office has suspended pre-trial proceedings against Finance Minister Simeon Djankov over accusations of leaking classified information.

"The move was taken because of the lack of irrefutable evidence," prosecutor Margarita Nemska, former spokesperson of Sofia City Prosecutor's Office, said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Prosecutors launched in July 2010 pre-trial proceedings against Finance Minister Simeon Djankov over an alleged leakage of classified information about the agreement between the central bank BNB and the previous Socialist-led government.

According to local media reports prosecutors interrogated Finance Minister Simeon Djankov and were expected to charge him with leaking classified information.

The signal against Djankov was filed in February 2010 by the opposition Socialists, who accused him of disclosing a secret agreement between his predecessor, Plamen Oresharski and the governor of the Bulgarian Central Bank, BNB, Ivan Iskrov, to deposit part of the fiscal reserve in private banks.

Djankov made the revelation in October 2009 during a parliamentary control session to back his own proposal for a similar move.

Finance Minister Simeon Djankov turned into the second high-ranking Bulgarian politician to face charges over a leak of classified information and the second minister from the center-right government of Boyko Borisov to draw the wrath of prosecutors.

In mid-July Sergey Stanishev, Bulgaria's former Prime Minister and leader of the opposition Socialist Party, was formally charged over the leak of a classified report on organized crime that shattered the country at the end of 2010.

Bulgaria's former health minister Bozhidar Nanev resigned at the beginning of April 2010 after prosecutors charged him with mismanaging flu vaccine contracts.

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