Bulgaria to Appoint New Irrigation Systems Head amid Scandal

Miroslav Naydenov (pictured) he was baffled by the fact Harizanov received a bill of indictment 11 years after the alleged crime. Photo by BGNES

The Board of Directors of Bulgaria's state-owned Irrigation Systems will choose a new Chair on Tuesday after Georgi Harizanov was temporarily removed due to a criminal investigation against him.

Harizanov is accused of embezzling USD 50 000 from a Sofia-based company back in 2001.

"Since this situation would create further tension within Irrigation Systems, we met with the Prime Minister and Harizanov himself proposed to be removed. Harizanov told me that he passed a lie detector test in 2001," Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov told bTV early on Tuesday.

Naydenov added he was baffled by the fact Harizanov received a bill of indictment 11 years after the alleged crime. He refused having known anything about the 2001 case.

On Friday, it emerged that the embattled official has not completed a bachelor's degree and is currently a student, which prompted Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov to defend him, saying "May Harizanov have Bill gates' fate."

The Irrigation Systems company gained media prominence due to the debates surrounding the ownership of dams in Bulgaria.

The issue surfaced after a dam wall collapsed on February 06, causing a deadly flood in the southern Bulgarian village of Biser.

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