Political Reactions after the Resignation of Energy Minister Petkova

Minister of Energy Temenuzhka Petkova tendered her resignation over the sale of CEZ’s Bulgarian assets. She announced her decision in Parliament on 23^rd of February after a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Yesterday, it became clear that the Czech state-owned utility CEZ intended to sell the electricity supplier in Western Bulgaria to the Bulgarian company “Inercom Bulgaria”. It is registered with 50 000 BGN capital, with manager and owner Ginka Varbakova. The company was established at the end of 2017. For months, there have been speculations in the public domain that the owner is close to minister Temenuzhka Petkova.

Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has advised Temenuzhka Petkova to resign so that there is no doubt that the government may have an impact on the CEZ deal and in order not to tarnish the reputation of the cabinet, BNT reporter Nadezhda Vassileva said. Prime Minister Borissov, who is in Brussels, said that for years he has been aiming at having independent energy regulators.

He said today that the deal is between private companies in the Czech Republic and the state cannot intervene in this deal.

The majority partner in the coalition government, GERB, defended the qualities of Temenuzhka Petkova. They said there should be no doubts about the deal and that it could be influenced.

The opposition socialist party demanded that PM Borisov give explanations in Parliament for the deal, and also asked for a position on behalf of President Radev and Ombudsperson Maya Manolova.