NW 17:46:31 21-07-2020
LN1757NW.106
ECONOMY - SPINNING RESERVE - PROBE

Prosecution Opens Power Plant Probe after
Opposition Leader Exposes
Spinning Reserve "Theft"


Sofia, July 21 (BTA) - The Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office
announced Tuesday that it is opening a probe into the award of
a contract for power supply security to Varna Thermo-electric
Power Plant (TPP). The announcement came several hours after the
co-leader of the opposition Democratic Bulgaria, Hristo Ivanov,
published a video of himself near the TPP, in which he exposes
its suspicious acquisition by Ahmed Dogan, the founder of the
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), and the subsequent award
of a lucrative million-leva contract in which this power plant
is paid to be on standby.

The Supreme Cassation Prosecution Office will check whether any
previous probes have been opened into the allegations in
Ivanov's video.

In his video, Ivanov called Varna TPP "the big theft for which
all us pay through our electricity bills" and accused the
power-holders of complicity.

The notorious power plant was owned by Czech energy group CEZ
following a 206 million euro deal but they were forced to sell
it in 2018, for 50 million leva, to a small company, owned by
the children of Danail Papazov, the transport minister in the
then caretaker government formed on a MRF mandate. Later the
same year, Dogan acquired a 70 per cent interest in the
non-operational plant for 3,600 leva. Ever since then, it has
been getting the lion's share of the spinning reserve: over 26
million leva a year, without having to do anything most of the
time. In 2019, the investigative website Bivol quoted CEZ Board
member Tomas Pleskac as saying that Varna TPP is not designed
for the spinning reserve.

The sale of Varna TPP by CEZ is being probed in the Czech
Republic for economic offences and possible tax evasion. In
early 2020, the specialized prosecution office in Sofia
announced that it is opening a probe as well.

Ivanov said in his video that what licences and permits CEZ had
been denied for years, the new owner obtained in ten days.
"There was no explanation about the origin of Dogan's money [for
the Varna TPP deal]. There was no explanation for the price at
which he acquired his share. The Anti-Corruption Fund alerted
the National Revenue Agency about this and a probe followed,
but, of course, nothing wrong was found," he argued.

Making a reference to Dogan's degree in philosophy,Ivanov called
the power plant "Dogan's philosopher's stone". "It is
something that enables you to make gold out of a pile of metal.
Dr Dogan achieved that, with our money, of course," he said
adding that it was largely possible because all competent
institutions are turning a blind eye.

Referring to the government's declared plan to downsize the
spinning reserve, Ivanov said that "the government has decided
that it has to cover up this scam".

Ivanov said that his video on Varna TPP is a sequel to the
episode on Rossenets, a small public beach adjacent to a
palatial property used by Ahmed Dogan as his summer residence,
which Ivanov and two fellow party members tried to reach by boat
earlier in July but were pushed back by national security
service bodyguards. Ivanov published a video of his clash with
the bodyguards and it went viral, turning into one of the events
that prompted the ongoing protests in Sofia and other parts of
the country against corruption, the government and the
Prosecutor General.

"At Rossenets, we shed light on the dirty secret of Bulgarian
politics: that Bulgaria is run by an undeclared coalition of
GERB, MRF and the [United] Patriots, that Bulgaria and all its
institutions, finances and energy are put in deep corruption
dependence on Dogan and his apprentice [MP-turn-businessman
Delyan] Peevski," Ivanov said.

In a separate development, the head of the energy regulator,
Ivan Ivanov, told reporters that if the spinning reserve is
really downsized, the network taxes and end price of electricity
will have to be revised.

The cost for the spinning reserve is included in users'
electricity bills.

Ivanov expressed support for the idea of reducing the spinning
reserve. LN/




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