BULGARIA’S PRESIDENT PLEVNELIEV EXPRESSED SUPPORT FOR THE ANTICORRUPTION LAW

Bulgaria’s President Rosen Plevneliev expressed support for the anti-corruption draft law that MPs passed at first reading last week. He urged the Bulgarian political forces to show that the fight against corruption was a priority.

Plevneliev, Deputy Prime Ministers Meglena Kuneva and Rumyana Buchvarova, as well as Justice Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva, took part in an anticorruption forum organised by the Centre for Study of Democracy on 4th of July.

He said that the issue of corruption had assumed global proportions and had adverse impact on progress. “We feel a strongly negative impact because of the heavy legacy of failed privatization, unwillingness of political parties for above party administration,“ the President said.

“There are several serious problems on which politicians should reflect. One of them is “conquering the state" in favour of private interests. The government led by Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski was described as a period of highest corruption, reaching the level of abuse of power. The protests at the time were a healthy response by the society, but they cannot solve the problems alone,” the Head of State pointed out. “The level of corruption remains abnormally high, “ he remarked.

"Corruption functions as a tax for public services and it is worrying that it is accepted as something normal," Plevneliev said. The heaviest degree is establishment of private control over the controlling and law enforcement authorities, He said. According to him, the energy sector is most vulnerable to corruption. Everyone in Bulgaria now has to pay the price for the projects that failed at the very outset – Belene NPP, South Stream gas pipeline project, Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline, “ Plevneliev said.

Belene is an amazing project, symbol of everything else but transparency, of how the state supports gigantic projects without assessing the economic effect, without contracts. The perception of corruption is strongest where there is no sense of justice and there is no effective judicial system, Plevneliev noted.

The 12th edition of the anticorruption forum which is organised annually by the Centre for the Study of Democracy (a non-governmental organisation that publishes annual reports on Bulgaria’s fight against corruption and organised crime) took place in Sofia. The event included the presentation of a survey outlining the level of corruption and development of anticorruption strategies and policies in 2015-2016.

It says that the lack of sustainable anticorruption solution over the past 18 years is indicative for the presence of numerous corruption relations and dependencies which involved senior public officials and politicians at management level, which became known in the public as “conquering the state" for the benefit of private interest.

photo: BTA

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