Bulgaria Sacks Food Safety Agency Head

Dr. Ivan Voynov was the first Director of Bulgaria's Food Safety Agency, photo by BGNES

The first Director of Bulgaria's Food Safety Agency, Yordan Voynov, has submitted his resignation.

Earlier Wednesday, caretaker Prime Minister, Marin Raykov, said at the sitting of the Council of Ministers Voynov must be fired.

Caretaker Agriculture Minister, Ivan Stankov, has the final say on the resignation as the Agency is under the authority of his Ministry.

The reason for Voynov's ousting is the contract for sanitary control at two checkpoints on the southern Bulgarian border, which he has signed on March 12, just one day before the caretaker Cabinet took the oath of office.

With the contract, the task of collecting vehicle disinfection fees on the border was transferred from a State company to the private firm PFS.

The scandal flared from a tipoff submitted by former Interior Minister and politician from the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist party, BSP, Rumen Petkov. He presented documentation the private company has been authorized to collect BGN 20 per vehicle, while the value of the service was BGN 10, meaning a profit of BGN 15 000 a day and BGN 1.5 M a month for maintaining a disinfection pond through which vehicles crossing the border are required to pass.

In the aftermath, Voynov announced he was going to annul the contract over the "huge public interest."

The prosecutor's office launched a probe in the case on grounds of deprivation of the State from profits.

 

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