New Bulgarian Customs Head to Be Appointed in Days

Outgoing Customs Agency Head, Vanyo Tanov, is also is a former chief of the Bulgarian anti-mafia police unit, photo by BGNES

A new Bulgarian Customs Agency Head will be appointed in days to replace Vanyo Tanov who will be removed from the post.

The news was reported Wednesday by Dimcho Mihalevski, Member of the Parliament from the left-wing Coalition for Bulgaria, led by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP.

Speaking for the Bulgarian public TV, he said collection of revenues from excise duties was lagging behind by 9% due to large-scale contraband, but the Socialist-endorsed government of Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, has already undertaken strong measures to counter it.

Mihalevski reminded that at the beginning of 2014, Bulgaria must make a payment of BGN 420 M on its foreign debt, thus the need to improve the work of the Customs in providing budget buffers to cover for this amount.

The socialist MP added the results of collection of Value Added Tax, VAT, under the rule of his government were impressive – 40% more in July, compared to previous months.

Thousands of Bulgarians are staging for the 48th day in a row rallies with demands the Cabinet resigns immediately over controversial appointments and ties with mafia, however, people in power continue with large-scale reshuffles of senior State servants.

They are firm they will not resign as they have very important tasks to accomplish for the well-being of Bulgarian people.

As MPs are holding Wednesday the final vote on the revision of State budget 2013, Mihalevski says it does not include funds for snap elections.

Tanov recently underwent surgery and is now on sick leave. Reports about his dismissal have emerged as early as end of June.

He is a former chief of the Bulgarian anti-mafia police unit and became particularly notorious at the beginning of 2010, when Galeria weekly released a tape of a conversation between him and then Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, from which it emerged Borisov might have provided a cover-up for a beer brewery owner.

The tapes reveal that Borisov had called Tanov with an order to immediately pull out all Customs agents from the "Ledenika" beer factory of Mihail Mikov AKA Misho The Beer, over an agreement that he made with the businessman.

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